Speaking at a private business event in Sydney this week Dr Lowe, who is due to address a key meeting of central bankers in the United States later this week, said the US-China trade war was hurting global investment, wages and economic growth.

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, leaked details of the briefing, was told Dr Lowe warned the gathered business leaders that the uncertainty caused by the US-China trade war was the world economy's biggest risk.

"I do not have a clear idea of what strategy the US has. [Some people in the US] say that it is time for Team West to muscle up against China and that is very worrying," he said.

Dr Lowe said some of the biggest concerns raised by the US about China included its approach to intellectual property rights, the role of state funding and the purchase of overseas assets.

The Australian economy would grow by between 2 and 3 per cent unless the global economy deteriorated due to international trade tensions.

In a sign of Australia's growing exposure to the rising super-power, China's customs unit doubled tariffs on Australian beef on Tuesday after Australian exporters exceeded the yearly quota in under eight months on the back of surging demand from the Chinese middle-class.

Industry's anxiety has been compounded by the Coalition's attempts to navigate a geopolitical minefield marked by the $US300 billion trade war with the United States and growing domestic concern over China's suppression of protests in Hong Kong.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday Australia would to live with a "heightened" level of tension with China after backbench MPs, including former diplomat Dave Sharma, urged the government to confront the realities of an increasingly hostile situation.

The developments have sparked concerns among Australia's central bankers, who discussed methods of pumping more money into the economy amid growing concerns over international trade tensions and fears of a local downturn.

The minutes of its July meeting reveal the board reviewed the use of "unconventional monetary policy measures" by other countries in response to the global financial crisis, suggesting it was preparing to implement quantitative easing measures if required.

The rare step could include purchasing government securities, providing longer-term funding to banks to support credit creation, purchasing private sector assets and foreign exchange intervention to stave off the threat of recession.

The RBA has historically relied only on setting interest rates to stimulate or slow down the economy and the minutes show it will consider cutting the cash rate from a record-low 1 per cent if the situation does not improve.

The board members, including Treasury secretary Philip Gaetjens and businesswoman Catherine Tanna, have become increasingly concerned about China's slowing economic growth. The minutes noted that further escalation in the trade dispute with the US presented a downside risk to the entire region.

"Uncertainty about how these disputes would play out and how effective domestic policy measures would be in supporting Chinese demand continued to be an important consideration for the global growth outlook and, from an Australian perspective, the future demand for steel and bulk commodities," the board said.

The chief executive of mining giant BHP, Andrew Mackenzie, reiterated his concerns on Tuesday.

"We are anxious about a range of things happening around the world which are rejecting the power of globalisation," he said.

Seek chief executive Andrew Bassat said he was particularly watching developments in Hong Kong, where the company runs a growing local jobs portal. Three-months of protests from the pro-democracy movement have sparked fears the local economy could be headed for a recession.

"It's a fraught situation. We hope it resolves [soon]. The economy is no doubt being affected by what's happening there," he said.

The $12.7 billion Australian beef industry is also exposed to any downturn. It has ramped up its push to gain greater access to the growing market on the back of a 160 per cent increase in exports since last year.

Exports exceeded their 2019 quota in less than eight months on Monday, triggering tariff hikes from 6 to 12 per cent under the Australia-China Free Trade Agreement.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said it was "an amazing accomplishment" and pledged to lobby Beijing to "extend or lower tariffs" but added that "significant expansion" of market access was likely to be years away.

Eighth-generation Yass Valley farmer Landon Hodgkinson, whose family has farmed cattle on his property since the 1820s, said the market for green pasture-fed beef was becoming like baby formula and vitamins among China's middle class.

Mr Hodgkinson travelled to China to complete a course with online giant Alibaba, but said the ongoing market volatility had made it difficult to predict future investments.

The 49-year-old urged the government to do more. "Any assistance to lift tariffs is not going to hurt the cattle producers," he said.

"China was a sleeping dragon but now its one of the top two economic powerhouses in the world. I think the Chinese have got a lot of respect for Australia, but with population growth there is always conflict, isn't there?"

- With Nick Toscano