The timing of Qatar’s cancellation of a trade deal with Australia worth $300 million annually is purely coincidental, the Trade Minister says.

The Qatari government’s subsidy of lamb imports has been ditched in favour of a market-led approach, abruptly forcing Australian producers into competition.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham assured the policy change is not a ban, new tax or tariff, and is unrelated to backlash over the violation of Australian women at Doha airport.

“We’re fairly confident in this, that it’s something Qatar have actually been … working on for two years; it well and truly predates this incident,” he told Jim Wilson.

“When these things occur, people will sometimes look to the coincidence and seek to join the dots.”

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