Trade Update – 4th July 2023: AUSTRALIA PURSUES CHINA BOOST, JAPAN LIFTS TRADE RESTRICTIONS, AUSTRALIA SEEKS GREATER FARM PRODUCE ACCESS 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.
AUSTRALIA PURSUES CHINA BOOST: Australia is seeking to boost the recovery of tourism by launching its global Come and Say G’day marketing campaign in China. It follows the launch of the campaign in other economies in 2022. Prior to the COVID pandemic Australia hosted 1.4 million Chinese tourists annually.
JAPAN LIFTS TRADE RESTRICTIONS: Japan is to restore South Korea’s status as a preferred trading partner in mid-July. It follows a bid by the two economies to improve relations and similar action by South Korea. Japan removed South Korea from a “white-list” in 2019 after a court ruling on alleged wartime conduct.
AUSTRALIA SEEKS GREATER FARM PRODUCE ACCESS: Agriculture Minister Watt is in Rome this week for a UN Conference. He will also meet with EU Agriculture Commissioner Wojciechowski and EU Agriculture Ministers in a bid to progress better agriculture produce access under Australia-EU FTA negotiations.
US HOSTS INDO-PACIFIC MEETING: Commerce Secretary Raimondo hosted a virtual ministerial meeting of Indo-Pacific Economic Framework economies during the week. The meeting came ahead of the next negotiating round in South Korea and focussed on the clean economy and fair economy pillars of the IPEF.
AUSTRALIA TO GIVE STATE FUNERAL FOR FORMER MINISTER: Prime Minister Albanese has offered a state funeral for highly respected former Trade Minister Simon Crean. A former leader of the Australian Labor Party, he was Trade Minister from 2007 to 2010. He died in Berlin while leading a business mission.
NZ WELCOMES CHINA FTA BID: A joint statement by NZ and China following bilateral talks between Prime Minister Hipkins and Premier Li during the week said NZ had welcomed China’s to join the CPTPP FTA and noted the requirement for aspirant economies to show they could meet the high standards of the FTA.
CHINA ACCEPTS GLOBAL FISHERIES AGREEMENT: China has accepted the WTO’s Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. Commerce Minister Wang handed the paperwork to WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in Tianjin. The agreement bans subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
AUSTRALIA REPORTS PROGRESS: Trade Minister Farrell spoke with Commerce Minister Goyal during the week and later said negotiations for a comprehensive agreement with India were moving swiftly. Australia had enjoyed lower tariffs on $12 billion of exports in the first 6 months of the “early harvest” agreement.
PHILIPPINES LOOKS TO NEW EU FTA TALKS: Trade Secretary Pascual has met with EU Trade Commissioner Dombrovskis and called for a resumption of FTA negotiations. Negotiations stalled in 2017. Meanwhile India and the Philippines have agreed to begin negotiations for a bilateral preferential trade agreement.
EUROPEAN COUNCIL MOVES ON NEW ZEALAND FTA: The European Council has given the green light for the signing of an FTA between the EU and New Zealand. Negotiations for the agreement concluded a year ago. Once the agreement is signed the EU and NZ will need to complete their respective ratifications.
