Australia rules out 'joining hands' with China to resist Trump's tariffs

Australia on Thursday ruled out the possibility of working with China to resist US President Donald Trump's tariffs, local media reported.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rejected China's suggestion of "joining hands," saying Australia would "speak for ourselves," ABC reported.

"Our trade relationship with China is an important one. Trade represents one in four Australian jobs and China is by a long distance our major trading partner," he was quoted as saying by ABC.

These trade issues, he observed, affect only 20% of the global market, while the remaining 80% of trade does not involve the US.

“There are opportunities for Australia and we intend to seize them," Albanese said.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has rejected an invitation from Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian to "join hands" with Beijing in "solidarity" after the two rivals slapped tit-for-tat tariffs on each other.

Marles said Canberra would pursue its own interests and focus on diversifying its trade, pursuing greater ties with Indonesia, India, the UK and the UAE.

"I don't think we'll be holding China's hand," he added.

"We obviously don't want to see a trade war between China and the US … [but] it's about pursuing Australia's national interests, not about making common calls with China."

Marles opined that "more diverse" trade, with less reliance on China, would strengthen Australia's "economic resilience."

"That's really been the lesson not just in the last couple of weeks, but really over the last five or 10 years, about the importance of making sure that we have got strong, diversified trade around the world, and that's our focus," he further said.