Most Australian trade with China has plummeted 40 per cent amid tensions, DFAT reveals

The value of Australian trade with China for almost all industries has plummeted by 40 per cent since a trade dispute ramped up between the two countries.

Overall trade between the two nations is down just 2 per cent in value, with the situation propped up by strong demand for Australian iron ore.

But as soon as iron ore value is removed from the equation, the full and stark extent of retaliatory trade tariffs imposed by Beijing becomes crystal clear.

Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade shared the bleak…