Posted on Dec. 2021 at 14:12
It is a “historic” agreement, the first obtained by London since leaving the European Union that is not simply a renewal or adaptation of those existing between the EU and other countries. Announced in June, the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement was signed on Thursday, opening the doors to the Asia-Pacific region in London.
The text, which will be submitted to the scrutiny of British parliamentarians, should generate “10.4 billion extra pounds of trade […] by eliminating tariffs on 100% of [leurs] exports ”.
Trade between the two countries amounted to £ 13.9 billion in 2020, just over 1% of total UK trade. In 2019, the UK was Australia’s fifth largest trading partner.
Work visas in Australia
This agreement “will create new work and travel opportunities for the British and Australians”, underlines the British government. British professionals in the service sector, including architects, lawyers or researchers, will have access to work visas in Australia. “This is more than Australia has ever offered to another country in a free trade agreement,” said the Department of International Trade.
The agreement should also make it possible to cancel the 20% tariffs on Australian beef exports. This component has raised the concern of British farmers who fear competition from Australian meat, cheaper and more flexible sanitary standards. To reassure breeders, the text provides for a limit on imports into British soil without customs duties for fifteen years, notably through quotas, the British government said in June. However, the latter did not provide details on the agricultural component when signing the treaty.
A victory for the pro-Brexit
The deal is a victory for Boris Johnson, who called for leaving the EU by promising that the UK would have more economic potential going it alone, touting his concept of ‘Global Britain’. London thus welcomes a text “tailor-made for the British economy”, especially in areas where the country is “a world leader, such as technology and digital”. The United Kingdom is also counting on this agreement to open the doors to the Trans-Pacific Trade Treaty (CPTPP), which brings together eleven countries in Asia and America.
Environmental NGOs do not see the agreement in the same light. This will have “not only one of the worst impacts on the climate but with a country which is one of the main world centers of deforestation”, estimates Greenpeace. It would also run counter to London’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
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