UK, Australia Agree to New Free Trade Deal
The United Kingdom and Australia reached a new free trade deal, the U.K.'s Department for International Trade announced in a June 15 news release. The pact promises that “iconic” goods such as British cars, Scotch whisky, biscuits and ceramics can be imported tariff-free into Australia, caps tariff-free agriculture imports for 15 years via “tariff rate quotas and other safeguards,” and allows British citizens under the age of 35 to be able to travel and work in Australia more openly, the release said.
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Leveraging a U.K.-Australia agreement to achieve access to broader trade pacts has been a goal of the British government (see 2106030027). “This deal delivers for Britain and shows what we can achieve as a sovereign trading nation,” International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said. “It is a fundamentally liberalising agreement that removes tariffs on all British goods, opens new opportunities for our services providers and tech firms, and makes it easier for our people to travel and work together. The agreement paves the way for us to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 9 trillion [pound] free trade area home to some of the biggest consumer markets of the present and future.” The U.K. and Australia had a 13.9 billion pound trading relationship in 2020.