Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton says Australia will not be intimidated by China's tariff threats amid reports coal exporters could face tougher selling restrictions.
New inspection regulations for iron ore imports in China and a decision to slap 80 per cent tariffs on Australian barley imports has already seen the trade war with Beijing escalate.
Some beef exports from Australian farms have also been banned.
"We have beliefs and values - and we're going to stand by those," Mr Dutton told Today.
"We don't believe there is a reasonable case in relation to the taxes, tariffs imposed by China."
Former Labor treasurer Wayne Swan backed Mr Dutton. He described the recent moves by China as diplomatic bullying.
"This is just more thuggery from China," he told Today.
Nationals leader Michael McCormack also said reports Chinese state-owned power plants are being told to use local coal is concerning for Australian exporters.
Mr McCormack said Trade Minister Simon Birmingham and diplomats were attempting to fix the issue.
"Of course we're very concerned by it," he told the ABC on Friday.
"But we have a two-way relationship with China. China needs Australia as much as Australia needs China and we want to make sure that whatever we do is in a careful and considered way."
The trade dispute came after Australia joined other nations in pushing for a global investigation into the coronavirus, a move endorsed by the World Health Assembly this week.
Now the Chinese government has begun instructing state-owned power bodies not to purchase Australian thermal coal – Australia's second top commodity export – and to buy domestic coal instead, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.
The directive followed a meeting of China's National Development and Reform Commission.
Analysts believe Beijing will now look at buying coal from Russia or Indonesia as an alternative to Australian stocks, the report states.For breaking news alerts and livestreams straight to your smartphone sign up to the 9News app and set notifications to on at the App Store or Google Play.
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