MADELEINE KING MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR TRADE 
MEMBER FOR BRAND

Scott Morrison knows the trade war is dangerous for Australia and Australia’s jobs.
 
The test for Scott Morrison’s visit to Washington was whether he would be able to persuade the US to resolve the trade war with China.
 
But it looks like Scott Morrison has failed that test.
 
Scott Morrison has a pattern of creating distractions.
 
Labor hopes Scott Morrison has not made these statements on China while in the US as a distraction - from his failure to persuade President Trump to end the US-China trade war.
 
Labor supports a rules-based multilateral trading system because this has brought major benefits to Australia as a trading nation.
 
At the same time, Labor has called for reform of the World Trade Organisation - including measures that take into account China’s remarkable economic progress over recent decades.
 
This needs to be resolved through negotiation within the WTO rather than through megaphone diplomacy.
 
We should be helping to solve this trade war in a mature way.
 
However, the Prime Minister’s choice of location for such a public stance will make this much harder now.