MADELEINE KING MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR TRADE
MEMBER FOR BRAND

If Scott Morrison is serious about promoting Australia’s economic interests, he must use his friendship with Donald Trump to urge the US President to end the ongoing trade war with China.

The Prime Minister is no doubt enjoying the pomp and ceremony during his important trip to the United States, but at the end of it he must return home with tangible results.

Global trade is best served by a rules-based multilateral trading system.
Not by unilateralism and protectionism.

This is the message that Mr Morrison should deliver to the President and it is in Australia’s best interest that he does so.
Mr Morrison should pay heed to the words of his own treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, who last week signed a statement in which Australia, Canada, Indonesia and Singapore called for an end to the US-China trade war and warned that the post-war multilateral system is at risk of collapse.

As a country, we must work to ensure that the international rules-based trading system is maintained.
Australia can play a leading role in ensuring sensible reform of the World Trade Organization to reflect the realities of the modern globalised world.