FREE TRADE – GOVERNMENT POLICY – AUSTRALIA

Union threat to Labor over trade deals

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 4-Oct-18

The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union has warned that it will reconsider financial support for federal Labor due to the party’s stance on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership. The union has contributed some $367,000 to Labor’s federal and New South Wales branches in the last two years, but AMWU state secretary Steve Murphy has criticise federal Labor’s lack of consultation with the union movement in deciding to support the trade deal. The TPP’s provisions regarding labour market testing for imported workers is a key concern for unions.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY

PM to seal trade deal with Jakarta

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Original article by Angus Grigg, Lisa Murray, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 29-Aug-18

Former trade negotiator Alan Oxley says Australia’s proposed free-trade agreement with Indonesia has more political than economic significance. Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to finalise a trade deal with Indonesia on 31 August, during his first overseas trip in his new role. President Joko Widodo indicated earlier in 2018 that a trade deal between the two nations was only being held up by "technical issues". Negotiations for a trade deal began in 2010 and were revived in 2016.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIA-INDONESIA BUSINESS COUNCIL LIMITED, RMIT UNIVERSITY, CENTRAL QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY, SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, CURTIN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Trade talks aim to crack Europe

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 4 : 18-Jun-18

Australia’s Trade Minister Steven Ciobo will meet with European Union trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom on 18 June, ahead of commencing formal negotiations for a free trade agreement in July. The Federal Government expects a wide range of industries to benefit from a trade deal, including farmers, car and aircraft parts makers, silicon producers, education providers and professional services firms. Ciobo says a trade deal will also boost two-way investment between Australia and the EU.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, ALMONDCO AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AIRBUS SAS, FERRARI SPA

Bring on TPP-11 or lose $15bn a year, says Minerals Council

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 14-May-18

The Minerals Council of Australia has released the results of modelling which suggests that the Trans-Pacific Partnership will boost Australia’s GDP by about 0.54 per cent a year, which equates to $A15bn. CEO David Byers says the 11-nation trade deal will bolster jobs, wages, economic growth and consumer choice in Australia. Byers has downplayed the ACTU’s concerns that the TPP will prompt a surge in temporary skilled migrant numbers, and called on federal parliament to endorse it.

CORPORATES
MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP, ACTU, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY, JOHN HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, NATIONAL FARMERS’ FEDERATION LIMITED, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

TPP-11 signing sends Trump a message

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 8-Mar-18

Trade Minister Steven Ciobo says members of the 11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership account for about 25 per cent of Australia’s exports, a figure that is likely to rise under the free trade deal. The Federal Government has revealed some details of the TPP; several participating nations will immediately scrap tariffs on products such as wine, seafood and steel, while some tariffs on beef will be phased out over a number of years. The TTP also includes provision for the free flow of data across borders. The TPP will be formally signed in Chile.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Turnbull, BHP warn Trump on the dangers of a trade war

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: W1 & W2 : 7-Mar-18

The signing of the 11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal on 7 March has coincided with President Donald Trump’s push to increase US tariffs on imported steel and aluminium. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will use the keynote address at a business summit in Sydney to emphasis the importance of free trade and open markets, and the negative effects of a trade war. BHP Billiton CEO Andrew Mackenzie has also expressed concern about Trump’s protectionist stance, although he is confident that free trade will prevail.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, REPUBLICAN PARTY (UNITED STATES), DEMOCRATIC PARTY (UNITED STATES), INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF COMMERCE

PM seeks TPP backing as Peru agrees trade deal

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 10-Nov-17

Peru will abolish almost all tariffs on Australian imports under a free-trade agreement between the two nations. Australian farmers in particular are set to benefit from the trade deal, with sheep meat, wheat and almonds among the products that will be tariff-free from the outset, while the tariff on beef will be abolished within five years. Australia accounted for just $US5.3m of the $US4.6bn worth of agricultural products imported by Peru in 2016. Meanwhile, the Federal Government is optimistic that the Trans-Pacific Partnership will proceed without the US.

CORPORATES
TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION

Aussie FTA ‘is low on UK agenda’

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Original article by Troy Bramston
The Australian – Page: 2 : 6-Oct-17

The Australian Government still aims to secure a free-trade agreement with the UK after it leaves the European Union. However, former UK government minister Peter Mandelson says the EU will remain Britain’s biggest export market post-Brexit, and maintaining this trade will be a much higher priority than a trade deal with Australia. He supports an FTA with Australia, but says this could never match the UK’s European export volumes.

CORPORATES
LABOUR PARTY (GREAT BRITAIN), GREAT BRITAIN. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, GLOBAL COUNSEL

Labor to embrace free-trade agenda

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Original article by Greg Sheridan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 6-Jul-17

The Australian Labor Party’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong will warn against any push toward protectionist trade policies in a Lowy Institute speech on 6 July. Wong will stress Labor’s commitment to open trade and globalisation, arguing that trade barriers are not in the nation’s interests. She will also highlight the importance of Australia’s long-standing alliance with the US and the need to further strengthen the relationship between the two nations. Establishing closer ties with Asia will also be a feature of Labor’s foreign policy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LOWY INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL POLICY

Ciobo to chase Hong Kong FTA

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 2 : 24-Apr-17

Trade Minister Steve Ciobo says Australian services industries in particular would benefit from a proposed free trade agreement with Hong Kong. An FTA with Hong Kong is expected to focus on services industries such as finance and education. Ciobo notes that Asia’s middle-class is forecast to increase from 600 million people to three billion by 2035. Two-way trade in goods and services between Australia and Hong Kong totalled $A15.3bn in 2015-16.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE