Britain eyes early free trade pact with Australia after leaving EU

By Colin Packham, Kate Holton

 

Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab poses for photographs ahead of a bilateral meeting at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, February 6, 2020. AAP Image/Lukas Coch/via REUTERS

 

SYDNEY/LONDON (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab hopes a free trade deal with Australia will be one of the first such pacts to be secured, now that Britain has left the European Union, he said on Thursday.

 

After formally leaving the EU on Jan. 31, Britain entered a transition period that allows it to negotiate future ties with Brussels and begin talks with other major economies, such as the United States and Japan.

 

“We have a trade relationship already worth 17 billion pounds, but we have the potential to do so much more,” Raab told reporters in the Australian capital of Canberra. The figure is equivalent to $22 billion (£16.9 billion).

 

“Australia hopefully will be part of that first wave of high priority deals that we are pursuing,” added Raab, speaking after he met Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne.

 

Neither Raab nor Payne gave any timetable for the start of free trade talks.

 

Australia is in the midst of talks with the EU for a trade deal, but Payne said the talks with Brussels would not slow the progress of a British deal.

 

Although Australia has strong ties with Britain as a former colony, the trading relationship has waned significantly over the last 50 years.

 

Britain now takes just 3% of Australia’s exports, while China takes nearly 40%. Britain’s entry into the Common Market in 1973 was widely considered a betrayal in Australia, upending decades of tradition and a host of tariff deals.

 

Supporters of Britain’s exit have argued, however, that “family ties” with Commonwealth members, such as Australia, could compensate for the partial loss of Europe’s 444 million customers.

 

During his two-day visit to Australia, Raab will also meet Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Trade Minister Simon Birmingham.

 

Talks are expected to focus on trade, but Britain’s decision to allot a limited role for Chinese telecoms giant Huawei in building its 5G network could also be discussed.

 

The world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment faces intense scrutiny in the West over its relationship with the Chinese government and accusations of enabling state espionage, with the United States urging allies not to use its technology.

 

Although no evidence has been produced publicly and Huawei has denied the claims, the accusations have prompted several Western countries, including Australia, to curb the firm’s access to their markets.

 

In January, Britain said high-risk vendors would be excluded from the sensitive core of networks, and there would a 35% cap on their involvement in the non-sensitive parts.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-02-06

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Given the ant-British vitriol pouring from Irish politicians I would make sure the first trade deal with Australia is for products that Ireland used to provide.

Britain now takes just 3% of Australia’s exports, while China takes nearly 40%. Britain’s entry into the Common Market in 1973 was widely considered a betrayal in Australia, upending decades of tradition and a host of tariff 

 

Interesting.

Hopefully he didn't have a jetlag after so many hours of flights and time differences. 

 

EU is also visiting Australia for trade talks. I wonder which one Australia considers more important future partner The EU or Britain.

8 minutes ago, lungbing said:

Given the ant-British vitriol pouring from Irish politicians I would make sure the first trade deal with Australia is for products that Ireland used to provide.

Lamb and beef would be a good start.

So the grovel tour of Australia begins. All that is missing is a cap in hand.  
 

For any FTA to be worthwhile access for beef and lamb are probably going to be high up the Australian negotiating list. 
 

I bet the Welsh farmers are going to love that. 

2 minutes ago, TheDark said:

Hopefully he didn't have a jetlag after so many hours of flights and time differences. 

 

EU is also visiting Australia for trade talks. I wonder which one Australia considers more important future partner The EU or Britain.

Why can Australia not do a deal with both the UK and the EU.

 

I know that Australia have been involved with the EU, it has taken nearly 3 years so far and is not completed yet.

 

Australia does many other products, including wine which I vastly prefer over the overpriced French wine.

8 minutes ago, Logosone said:

Britain now takes just 3% of Australia’s exports, while China takes nearly 40%. Britain’s entry into the Common Market in 1973 was widely considered a betrayal in Australia, upending decades of tradition and a host of tariff 

 

Interesting.

Karma comes to mind! 

1 minute ago, samran said:

So the grovel tour of Australia begins. All that is missing is a cap in hand.  
 

For any FTA to be worthwhile access for beef and lamb are probably going to be high up the Australian negotiating list. 
 

I bet the Welsh farmers are going to love that. 

 

But the Welsh farmers have been cosseted by the CAP which will disappear fairly soon.

It's a big But, they couldn't even agree on a reciprocal agreement for pensioners and pensions.

19 minutes ago, samran said:

Karma comes to mind! 

Yeah, looks like it (& note the correct flag in the background; Your Govt know the difference although you routinely seem to struggle...) ????

 

Edited February 6, 20206 yr by evadgib

9 minutes ago, billd766 said:

 

But the Welsh farmers have been cosseted by the CAP which will disappear fairly soon.

The turkeys who voted for Christmas?

I can think of several products/commodities that Australia would want to export to the UK under a preferential tariff deal - but what UK products would be interesting for Australia? Keep in mind that products must be originating in the UK, or they won’t even qualify. So incorporating/using materials/components from the EU might mean non-elegibilty.

 

Edited February 6, 20206 yr by damascase
Typo

38 minutes ago, Logosone said:

Britain now takes just 3% of Australia’s exports, while China takes nearly 40%. Britain’s entry into the Common Market in 1973 was widely considered a betrayal in Australia, upending decades of tradition and a host of tariff 

 

Interesting.

 

 

I suggest you go and look at the figures again..... especially wine!

 

 

Table 2.1:  Key Australian agricultural, fisheries and forest exports to the UK by value - 2015

Commodity	Australian Exports to the UK $m	UK Share of Australian Exports to the EU-28	Australian Exports to the EU-28 $m	UK Share of Australian Exports to the world	Australian Exports to the World $m
Wine	384.4	64 per cent	597.0	18 per cent	2,168.0
Beef and veal	120.5	40 per cent	302.5	1 per cent	9,296.4
Sheepmeat	100.8	72 per cent	140.3	4 per cent	2,525.3
Almonds	16.4	5 per cent	302.0	2 per cent	745.3
Wool a	12.8	4 per cent	303.6	<1 per cent	2,906.5
Plant extract b	11.7	26 per cent	45.8	5 per cent	234.4
Chickpeas	11.6	94 per cent	12.3	1 per cent	1,004.3
Offal c	4.4	79 per cent	5.6	1 per cent	773.3
Apples	2.5	100per cent	2.5	23 per cent	10.7
Other	62.1	5 per cent	1,368.7	<1 per cent	31,075.5
Total	727.2	24 per cent	3,080.3	1 per cent	50,739.7

8 minutes ago, damascase said:

I can think of several products/commodities that Australia would want to export to the UK under a preferential tariff deal - but what UK products would be interesting for Australia?

 

 

Start with Marmite then the Aussies wouldn't have to eat that Vegemite sh!t.

A free trade agreement with UK will be welcomed by Australia - our economic, social and military ties go back a long way and leaving the EU is something most Australians support.  

19 minutes ago, damascase said:

I can think of several products/commodities that Australia would want to export to the UK under a preferential tariff deal - but what UK products would be interesting for Australia? Keep in mind that products must be originating in the UK, or they won’t even qualify. So incorporating/using materials/component from the EU might mean non-elegibilty.

 

 

A PR win is at the top of the agenda for the Brits. Just to say they have an FTA to vindicate the actions of the past few years.

 

The main thing I suspect the brits want however is access to the Australian labour market. It’s something they’ve talked about often - free movement - and boris banged on about it when he was foreign secretary. With ready access to EU workers drying up, maintaining a flexible work force in the UK will be an issue. 
 

13 minutes ago, AussieBob18 said:

A free trade agreement with UK will be welcomed by Australia - our economic, social and military ties go back a long way and leaving the EU is something most Australians support.  

Well, I think it is is quite safe to say that most Australians don’t have a clue about the EU, its role and how it works.....

23 minutes ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

I suggest you go and look at the figures again..... especially wine!

 

 

Table 2.1:  Key Australian agricultural, fisheries and forest exports to the UK by value - 2015

Commodity	Australian Exports to the UK $m	UK Share of Australian Exports to the EU-28	Australian Exports to the EU-28 $m	UK Share of Australian Exports to the world	Australian Exports to the World $m
Wine	384.4	64 per cent	597.0	18 per cent	2,168.0
Beef and veal	120.5	40 per cent	302.5	1 per cent	9,296.4
Sheepmeat	100.8	72 per cent	140.3	4 per cent	2,525.3
Almonds	16.4	5 per cent	302.0	2 per cent	745.3
Wool a	12.8	4 per cent	303.6	<1 per cent	2,906.5
Plant extract b	11.7	26 per cent	45.8	5 per cent	234.4
Chickpeas	11.6	94 per cent	12.3	1 per cent	1,004.3
Offal c	4.4	79 per cent	5.6	1 per cent	773.3
Apples	2.5	100per cent	2.5	23 per cent	10.7
Other	62.1	5 per cent	1,368.7	<1 per cent	31,075.5
Total	727.2	24 per cent	3,080.3	1 per cent	50,739.7

 

And yet when I wanted to buy a bottle of Penfolds Grange I had to call 8 stores before finding a single bottle.

 

Anyway, Australia for all its wonderful wine, delicious beef, succulent lamb and mining is still a very small country. With a very small population.

 

If you think that a trade agreement with Australia will somehow be a boon to the UK economy you'll be sorely disappointed.

 

The UK's economic malaise is a self-made one, it gave up two thirds of its manufacturing base, it is 80% services. So anyone would struggle to think of UK products they would want to buy, not just Australians.

 

If you add the loss of two thirds of manufacturing to one of the world's worst debt mountains, frankly, the UK can make free trade agreements with the entire world, it won't make a iot of difference. What good is a free trade agreement when you have so little to trade with, when you make almost nothing, but only offer services? And what do you think will happen with the financial centre London once the EU decides no more MIFID2 exemptions, and does not give the UK free access for its service providers?

 

Australia will not save you. Canada will not save you. Botswana will not save you. I am sorry to say the British economy is going downhill no matter what agreements you make. 

17 minutes ago, samran said:

 

A PR win is at the top of the agenda for the Brits. Just to say they have an FTA to vindicate the actions of the past few years.

 

The main thing I suspect the brits want however is access to the Australian labour market. It’s something they’ve talked about often - free movement - and boris banged on about it when he was foreign secretary. With ready access to EU workers drying up, maintaining a flexible work force in the UK will be an issue. 
 

We can send them overpaid baristas, they can send us overpaid divorce lawyers. Win win.

The negotiations has to start from somewhere. There is quite a few to be renegotiated and confirmed. 

 

After Brexit: the UK will need to renegotiate at least 759 treaties

FT research reveals that agreements with 168 countries must be redone just for Britain to stand still

https://www.ft.com/content/f1435a8e-372b-11e7-bce4-9023f8c0fd2e?segmentid=acee4131-99c2-09d3-a635-873e61754ec6

1 hour ago, samran said:

So the grovel tour of Australia begins. All that is missing is a cap in hand.  
 

For any FTA to be worthwhile access for beef and lamb are probably going to be high up the Australian negotiating list. 
 

I bet the Welsh farmers are going to love that. 

How about the Australian farmers?

 

As it now appears that No Deal and Australian Deal are synonyms

it should not have to require much effort to land an Australian Deal.

 

guess some would even refer to it as a quickie

 

 

 

Ditch your nearest and biggest trading partners.

Now scrambling around for trade deals with anyone.

A great strategy.

Wow, a trade deal with a 25 million citizen country. I am impressed.

33 minutes ago, damascase said:

Well, I think it is is quite safe to say that most Australians don’t have a clue about the EU, its role and how it works.....

You would be surprised how much about Brexit and USA is shown in Australia - but not as to the exact workings. But we do know things like - that Frenchmen can fish in UK waters and British fishermen are banned. 

21 minutes ago, gearbox said:

We can send them overpaid baristas, they can send us overpaid divorce lawyers. Win win.

Just as long as Chav’s aren’t allowed in, I’m all good.

20 minutes ago, Forethat said:

How about the Australian farmers?

They are to going to love it. Cost competitive on a global scale, the welsh probably will struggle. 
 

But hey, brave new world right? 

Edited February 6, 20206 yr by samran

9 minutes ago, AussieBob18 said:

You would be surprised how much about Brexit and USA is shown in Australia - but not as to the exact workings. But we do know things like - that Frenchmen can fish in UK waters and British fishermen are banned. 

Be aware of making trade deal with UK as that would mean that UK vessels then can only fish at Australian waters and vice versa. 

So much salt from the perennial losers on every Brexit thread. Mostly from non Brits. Great to read ????.

 

Also great to see so many deals in the pipeline, exciting times ahead.