UK- AUSTRALIA TRADE DEAL
BY:
Sandra Strong
15 June 2021
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The UK has secured a trade deal with Australia eliminating tariffs on all UK goods and boosting jobs and businesses across the country, in the first major trade deal negotiated from scratch by the Government since we left the EU.
The main elements of the deal were agreed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at a meeting in Downing Street last night [Monday 14 June 2021]. A final Agreement in Principle will be published in the coming days.
British farmers will be protected by a cap on tariff-free imports for 15 years, using tariff rate quotas and other safeguards. The new Free Trade Agreement means iconic British products like cars, Scotch whisky, biscuits and ceramics will be cheaper to sell into Australia, boosting UK industries that employ 3.5 million people across the country. The UK-Australia trade relationship was worth £13.9 billion last year and is set to grow under the deal, creating opportunities for businesses and producers in every part of the UK.
Britain has also applied to join a trans-Pacific trading bloc, of which Australia is also a member, that includes other countries where minister predict demand for digital, legal and professional services will grow rapidly. That deal, Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, is also seen as important economic counterweight to China's influence in the region.
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