Australia exports all kinds of commodities and agricultural products, including lumber, iron ore, coal, and barley, to name a few.
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China has been a major customer for Australian exports, including lumber, until recently.
The volume of trade between the two countries reached $172 billion, with Australia having a trade surplus of $51 billion.  
However, problems have arisen in Australian-Chinese relations that threaten to upset this arrangement.
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The problems started when upon U.S. insistence Australia decided not to allow the Chinese Huawei company to participate in the installation of 5G communications within the country and later when Australia pushed for an international investigation of the origins of Covid-19.
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China reacted to these acts in October, 2020, by effectively banning the import of lumber and other materials such as coal, copper, barley, sugar, wine, beef, and lobsters.
Iron ore, a very important Australian import, was left off this essentially punitive list.
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The bans were felt in Australia, for which China is a major trading partner. 

The cost of banning the import of Australian lumber to China also increased the price of lumber globally.
The head of the Russian Forest Group Lashkevich noted that there were two causes for the recent increase in the price of lumber: the increased demand for lumber in the U.S.; and the ban on lumber imports into China from Australia.
Citing the worsening of Australian-Chinese relations as the cause of the ban, Lashkevich stated that as a result in Asia buyers were paying extra for buying wood in volume, thus raising its price also in Russia.
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Russian entrepreneurs also took advantage of this situation, which promised to increase their imports into China dramatically over the next few years.
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The blame for starting the disputes which led to the ban on Australian lumber imports into China was laid by some at the feet of the Australian government, which, seeing itself as an “outpost of the West” rather than a member of the Asia-Pacific Region, had taken a tough ideological stance against its main trading partner, China.
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It was pointed out that  Australia, many of whose exports are blocked in the U.S. and not in great demand in Europe, has a smaller GNP than the Chinese province of Guangdong.
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Thus, by antagonizing China, Australia faced decline into poverty.
Other reports have noted, however, that the Australians found a way around some of the bans by exporting to Hong Kong, where Australian imports increased 111% over one year, reaching $136.7 million.
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Warning: these questons and answers are not all representative of the way questions will be asked and answered in the pilot, because some questions are compound and some answers do not include citations.

Q: What Australian actions may have precipitated the trade bans imposed by China on Australian exports?
A: Australia’s rejection of Huawei communications technology on the insistence of the U.S. and its call for an international investigation of the origins of Covid-19.

Q: When did China start banning Australian imports?
A: The ban began in October, 2020. 

Q: How did the Chinese ban affect the price of lumber?
A: It increased it. 

Q: What was another cause of the increase in the price of lumber?
A: high demand in the U.S.

Q: What are some of the other materials and products the Chinese banned?
A: coal, copper, barley, wine, sugar, and lobsters. 

Q: What happened to the price of lumber in Russia, another major exporter of lumber?
A: It also went up there. 

Q: According to the article, how does Australia perceive itself?
A: as an “outpost of the West” rather than as a member of the Asia-Pacific Region. 

Q: How does Australia’s GNP compare to Guangdong Province in China?
A: Australia’s GNP is smaller than just Guangdong. 

Q: Did Australian exporters find another route to trade with the Chinese mainland?
A: Yes, via Hongkong. 

Q: . How have Australian exports to Hong Kong changed since the bans?
A: They increased by over 100% in one year.