A free trade deal with Europe is the closest it has been in 25 years, says Federal Trade Minister Don Farrell.
And Germany says it is keen to do a deal on critical minerals that an FTA will make easier.
“We are closer than we have been in 25 years to getting an agreement for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Europeans,” he told Sky News after returning from Europe recently where he met with EU Trade Minister Maros Sefcovic and Agriculture Minister Hansen.
“Unfortunately, we’re not there yet … but we have significantly reduced the issues between us,” he says.
“Over the last three or four months there were probably 10 issues that divided us from Europe. We’ve significantly reduced the number of areas of disagreement but there’s still more work to be done.”
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Farrell says a deal will boost Australia trade exports alone by $10 billion a year and points to benefits from agreements with the UK, India and United Arab Emirates.
“Our trade in beef to the UK is up almost 300% … our trade to India is up almost 200% and …. our beef sales to the UAE have doubled.”
He points out that Australian trade hit a record $1.3 trillion and that an FTA deal will be good news for business and very good news for farmers.
On car imports, Farrell says they propose removing all tariffs on European imports with a luxury car tax still “on the table”.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong says they “welcomed Germany’s strong support for an EU-Australia FTA” during a visit to Canberra recently by her German counterpart, Johann Wadephul.
She says one benefit of an FTA is a stable trading arrangement.
“We are strong supporters of it. We hope that we can see the conclusion of an EU-Australia FTA in the near future,” she says.
MORE TRADE NEWS: Europe signs FTA with India
GERMAN INTEREST
“We are seeing global shifts,” Wadephul says. “The international order, as we know it, is under immense pressure.
“I very much appreciate in times like these to have such a close friend like Australia in the Pacific area; the Indo-Pacific is a growth engine for the world. Two thirds of global growth is generated here,” he says.
He points to Australia’s raw materials resources as another area that could benefit from an FTA with EU.
“German industry, in particular, relies on these raw materials; I believe that this is a large field for particularly close co-operation between Australia and Germany,” he says.
“Many important raw materials, such as lithium, are extracted here. We have great interest in expanding our co-operation in raw materials, particularly when it comes to strategically important minerals.
“… we want to strengthen our co-operation further.
“It would be great to conclude a modern free trade
agreement between the EU and Australia quickly.”
Wadephul is hopeful that a deal can be signed this year sometime.
“This agreement could make our economic relations even stronger. I advocated for that. In the end, we can all have to gain something from that.”
He says his country is committed to free trade.
“We believe that trade barriers must be dismantled and we believe that the European Union and Australia would benefit from such an agreement. It is important to have another go, and I think we’ll be successful.”
