TRADE UPDATE – 13 DECEMBER 2024: INDIA & AUSTRALIA TAKE STOCK, RCEP FTA SECRETARIAT LAUNCHED, SOUTH KOREA READIES FOR US TRADE POLICIES and many more…
Weekly trade review provided by Chatto Creek Advisory Pty.
Chatto Creek Advisory Pty Ltd is a Melbourne-based strategic consultancy specialising in trade policy advice and government engagement strategy. It is headed by Russell Scoular, an executive with rich government relations, trade policy, and business experience throughout the Asia Pacific.
INDIA & AUSTRALIA TAKE STOCK: India and Australia have completed three days of stocktake talks in New Delhi. The talks covered key areas including an agriculture market access framework that aligned with India’s food security objectives and a path to an early conclusion of a comprehensive trade agreement.
RCEP FTA SECRETARIAT LAUNCHED: An inauguration ceremony was held on Monday for the RCEP FTA Support Unit Office. It will be located at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta. The RCEP FTA was signed in 2020 and consists of the ASEAN economies and Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
SOUTH KOREA READIES FOR US TRADE POLICIES: Trade Minister Cheong this week called trade and international relations specialists together at the Korea Security Agency for Trade and Industry to discuss strategic responses to the potential trade policies of the incoming Trump Administration.
UK’S PARTICIPATION TO BEGIN: The UK is on the cusp of participating in the mega CPTPP FTA. The UK’s participation will begin with Japan, Singapore, Chile, NZ, Vietnam, Peru, Malaysia and Brunei on December 15 and with Australia on December 24. Canada and Mexico have yet to ratify the UK’s accession.
AUSTRALIAN TRADE MINISTERS MEET: Federal and State Trade Ministers met in Adelaide on Wednesday for a 4th meeting of the Ministerial Council on Trade and Investment. They focused on a range of topics including Australia’s boosting of trade and investment with Southeast Asia and World Expo Osaka 2025.
SOUTH KOREA & CHINA TALK TRADE: Trade Ministers Cheong and Wang met in Seoul this week for a 6th South Korea-China FTA Joint Commission meeting. In addition to reviewing progress since 2015 of their bilateral FTA, the two sides agreed to accelerate current negotiations on services and investment.
PHILIPPINES & CHILE LAUNCH TRADE TALKS: The Philippines and Chile have launched negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. The Philippines and Canada have also agreed to exploratory discussions on a potential FTA to complement the ASEAN-Canada FTA under negotiation.
AUSTRALIA TO REMOVE CHINESE SINK DUTIES: Australia is to end anti-dumping and countervailing duties in March 2025 on deep drawn stainless steel sinks from China. It follows a review by the Anti-Dumping Commission which found the duties were no longer warranted. The duties were first imposed in 2015.
TAIWAN & US TRADE AGREEMENT BEGINS: The first agreement under the umbrella of the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade entered into force this week. It includes sections on a range of topics including customs administration and trade facilitation, anti-corruption and good regulatory practices.
NZ SEEKS NOMINEES FOR EU GROUP: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is seeking expressions of interest by December 19 for a new Domestic Advisory Group on the implementation of the NZ-EU FTA. It is reaching out to business organisations, civil society groups and Maori for group representation.
