Australia, China agree to restart FTA talks
It was disclosed that talks on the proposed FTA will begin again in May. Negotiations were started in 2005 but, with tariffs over sensitive goods being especially problematic, were still incomplete after 18 rounds of talks. China has since become Australia's largest two-way trading partner, with total bilateral trade amounting to AUD 121.1bn (USD127.5bn).
Gillard said that, in the meeting with Li, she called the lack of the FTA "a gap in our relationship," while Australia’s Minister for Trade and Competitiveness Craig Emerson added that Australia is seeking a "high ambition" FTA, including agricultural tariffs and quotas, manufactured goods and services.
"An FTA is worth having," Emerson continued, "but only if it is high ambition and that means that we need to deal with the sensitivities on both sides. We could have a low ambition FTA, like a trophy to sit on the national mantelpiece to say we've got one, but we want it to do some work we want it to make a difference."
During the same meeting, Emerson pointed out that Premier Li "was very keen and spent some considerable time talking about the challenge that the great benefits that an FTA would bring." Matching Australia's increasing natural resource exports to China, particularly iron ore, coal and natural gas, with China's increasing industrialization, both countries appear to have a strategic interest in completing an FTA as soon as possible.
Australia and China also announced the start of direct trading between the Australian dollar and the Chinese renminbi, "making it easier for Australian businesses to buy and sell into the Chinese market, encouraging greater two-way investment and ensuring Australia gets in on the ground floor as China moves towards internationalizing its currency."
In addition, the two countries agreed to establish a carbon trading experts group and to conduct joint research on carbon trading issues. China is closely monitoring the implementation of Australia's emissions trading scheme (ETS) since July last year, to inform the development of its future pilot and national schemes. Later this year, China will commence pilot ETS in seven of its provinces and major cities, as it aims to move to a national ETS after 2015.
Source: www.tax-news.com
