The UK’s post-Brexit trade deals with Australia and New Zealand come into force

SYDNEY (Australia), May 31 The Free Trade Agreements (FTA) between the UK and Australia and New Zealand, the first negotiated by London after leaving the European Union, came into effect on Wednesday amid a trade shift by British officials towards Indo. PACIFIC STARTED AFTER BREXIT.

Both agreements eliminate all tariffs on goods exchanged between the United Kingdom and Australia on the one hand, and the United Kingdom and New Zealand on the other, and provide greater immigration facilities among these three countries, among other benefits. with strong historical ties.

“This agreement creates new opportunities to deepen and expand trade and investment with one of Australia’s oldest and most important trading partners,” Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell said in a statement today.

Australia and New Zealand signed the agreements in December 2021 and February 2022, and the United Kingdom opened negotiations anew and signed after the country left the European Union.

However, they were not ratified by the Australian and New Zealand parliaments until November 2022 and the British parliament until March this year.

These FTAs ​​- which come into force in 2020 and 2021 respectively in addition to those signed by the United Kingdom with Japan and South Korea – seek to intensify British trade in the strategic Indo-Pacific region, where it is flirting with India. , which will become the world’s third largest economy by the end of this decade.

For Australia, 99% of Australian products – including wine, honey, nuts, electrical appliances – will not need to pay tariffs, while tariffs on some meat or dairy products will be phased out over the next decade.

Likewise, the free trade agreement includes immigration facilities, tourist and work visas and other measures for businessmen, professionals and youth from both countries.

Bilateral goods trade with the United Kingdom, Australia’s fifteenth trading partner and a strategic partner in the AUKUS security alliance, which includes the United States, will be worth 10 billion Australian dollars (about 6,495 million dollars or about 6,077 million euros) in 2022. According to official data.

For New Zealand, the deal eliminates tariffs on 99.5% of its products, such as wine, its star exporter to the UK, while meat and dairy products – like Australia – will see a progressive reduction in tariffs over 50 years. According to a statement released today by the Wellington administration.

With bilateral trade of 5.3 billion New Zealand dollars ($3.185 billion or 2.98 billion euros), the United Kingdom is New Zealand’s seventh largest trading partner, according to official sources. EFE

WAT/GRC/CG