UK and Australia trade deal.
The UK has signed an historic trade agreement with Australia, our first ‘from scratch’ since leaving the EU, setting new global standards in digital and services and creating new work and travel opportunities for Brits and Australians.
- The UK-Australia trade deal is the first ‘from scratch’ UK trade agreement to be finalised since the UK left the EU.
- It was agreed in principle by the UK Prime Minister in June and the UK International Trade Secretary has today (17th December 2021) signed the final deal during a virtual ceremony.
- The deal will benefit the UK by eliminating most tariffs on UK exports and unlock £10.4 billion of additional trade.
The deal was ‘agreed in principle’ by the UK Prime Minister and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in London in June, and negotiators have now finalised all chapters of the agreement. The final deal was signed in a virtual ceremony by International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan on Friday morning and will now be laid in the UK Parliament for a period of scrutiny.
The deal is expected to unlock £10.4 billion of additional trade, boosting our economy and increasing wages across the UK, while eliminating tariffs on most UK exports. It includes cutting-edge agreements in areas where Britain is a world leader, including in digital and technology, along with increased access to Australia for the UK’s powerhouse service sectors.
This agreement will help create new opportunities for businesses in both the UK and Australia:
- Establishes clear and transparent rules that ensure fair treatment for UK investors, greater legal certainty to prohibit discriminatory treatment and reduces the risks associated with investment decisions.
- Provides UK investors with broader and deeper market access than Australia has ever guaranteed before, making it easier to invest across the economy while restricting limitations on business activity and reducing “investor-unfriendly” performance requirements.
- It gives UK and Australian firms guaranteed access to each other’s government procurement markets
- It will allow young people to work and travel in Australia for up to three years at a time, removing previous visa conditions.
- UK service suppliers including architects, scientists, researchers, lawyers and accountants will have access to visas to work in Australia without being subject to Australia’s skilled occupation list. This is more than Australia has ever offered any other country in a free trade agreement.
- UK businesses and professionals will have guaranteed certainty of access, helping to make long-term business decisions around the movement of personnel, bidding for and accepting new contracts, and advertising their services in Australia.
- The deal removes tariffs on UK exports, making it cheaper for Australian importers to sell iconic British products like cars, Scotch whisky and UK fashion. Australian favourites like Jacob’s Creek and Hardys wines, Tim Tams and surfboards will be more accessible for British consumers.
The deal is also a gateway into the fast-growing Indo-Pacific region and will boost the UK’s bid to join CPTPP, one of the largest free trade areas in the world, covering £8.4 trillion of GDP and 11 Pacific nations from Australia to Mexico.
Our UK-Australia trade deal is a landmark moment in the historic and vital relationship between our two commonwealth nations. This agreement is tailored to the UK’s strengths, and delivers for businesses, families, and consumers in every part of the UK – helping us to level up. We will continue to work together in addressing shared challenges in global trade, climate change and technological changes in the years ahead.
Today we demonstrate what the UK can achieve as an agile, independent sovereign trading nation. This is just the start as we get on the front foot and seize the seismic opportunities that await us on the world stage.
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Source: Gov.UK
Published: 17th December 2021