Trade News

The first annual review of the FTA was held in March 2006.  The two sides noted that the FTA yielded benefits for both the United States and Australia, with bilateral goods trade up 6 percent to $23.1 billion in 2005, the year following the Agreement’s entry into force.  U.S. goods exports to Australia in 2005 were $15.8 billion up 10.9 percent ($1.5 billion) from 2004.  U.S. exports to Australia were at record levels in 2005 for red meat, fresh and processed fruit and vegetables, tree nuts, pet food, vegetable oil, rice, and wine.  U.S. exports of machinery, vehicles, electrical machinery, optical and medical instruments, and aircraft enjoyed similarly strong growth in 2005.  Meanwhile, U.S. imports of a variety of goods from Australia, including wine, cheese and other dairy products, fresh fruit, vegetable oil, sheet and lamb meat and other products were up significantly.  The next annual review will take place in Australia in July.

The U.S.-Australia FTA is an historic agreement, opening goods and services markets and streamlining mutual access in intellectual property, government procurement, e-commerce and investment.  This agreement slashed tariffs on manufactured and agricultural goods, reduced barriers for services firms, provides for state-of-the-art intellectual property protection, facilitates investment, further opens Australian and U.S. government procurement markets to each other, keeps pace with new technologies and new ways of doing business, and promotes continued environmental and labor protections.