Australia
In the last two years the Australian Government has finalised bilateral trade agreements with China, Korea and Japan, which are now in force. The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement between 12 Pacific Rim countries has been agreed, but is being reviewed by a Parliamentary committees before Parliament votes on the implementing legislation. The TPP will not come into force until six of the 12 countries including the US and Japan pass the implementing legislation, which is expected to take two years.
The current conservative Coalition government has agreed to include Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions in the Korea and China bilateral FTAs as well as the TPP. ISDS allows foreign companies to bypass national courts and sue governments for compensation if they can argue that a change in law or policy harms their investment. The previous Labor government had a policy against ISDS, and even a previous Coalition government did not include ISDS in the Australia-US free trade agreement in 2004.
There is widespread opposition in the Australian community to the inclusion of ISDS in the TPP. The TPP is also controversial because it extends monopoly rights on expensive life-saving biologic medicines, which will mean more years of very high prices before cheaper versions become available. There are also grave concerns about its impacts on food labelling standards and expanded access for temporary workers without additional protection of workers’ rights. A recent World Bank study found that Australia was only likely to gain almost no economic benefit from the deal.
Australia is currently involved in multilateral negotiations towards the PACER-plus agreement with New Zealand and 14 Pacific Island countries, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Trade In Services Agreement (TISA). It is also negotiating bilateral trade agreements with India and Indonesia and will begin talks with Hong Kong and Taiwan later this year and the EU next year.
Contributed by AFTINET
last update: May 2016
As the date for Brexit looms, trade minister Steven Ciobo is in London for talks on strengthening free trade ties with Britain.
Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Australia met in Sydney on 18 March to discuss the next steps for their Strategic Partnership, initiated in 2014, with regional trade agreements, digital trade, and sustainable urbanisation high on the agenda.
Canberra and Jakarta are unlikely to finalise a free trade deal ahead of the Indonesian president’s visit to Australia for a leaders summit.
Under the deal, tariffs on 99 percent of Australian goods exported to Peru will be eliminated within five years.
Australia is currently hosting the second round of Pacific Alliance Free Trade Agreement negotiations.
Australia and Indonesia have conceded they will fail to pull off a free-trade deal this year despite repeated commitments.
This will be the fifth round of KAFTA tariff cuts since the agreement entered into force on December 12, 2014.
Indonesia and Australia’s trade ministers will meet in Argentina amid growing doubt the free trade deal between the two countries will meet the end-of-year deadline.
The upgraded Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement was ratified and has come into force, heralding a new era of bilateral economic relations.
Australia has reiterated the importance of New Zealand to its foreign policy direction with particular emphasis on the role it sees New Zealand playing in its economic engagement with Pacific island countries.
-
Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTINET)
AFTINET provides information, campaign materials, submissions and articles about Australia FTAs
bilaterals.org team, Jan 2021