Trade minister Andrew Robb hopeful of signing China FTA soon
A long-awaited free trade agreement between Australia and China could be signed soon, federal Trade Minister Andrew Robb says, despite negotiations still raging.
Mr Robb, who is in China, said it was his “expectation” the agreement would be signed after the G20 leaders meeting of the world’s richest nations, which include Chinese President Xi Jinping, in Brisbane on November 15-16. It would complete a trifecta of free trade agreements after deals were struck with Japan and South Korea earlier this year.
“We have got a couple of issues, which we’re still working through. They’re not easy, but I can see a road map to completing it, so that’s our clear intention,” Mr Robb said Sunday.
But after more than eight years of negotiations, Mr Robb has warned that not everybody would be happy with the landmark deal, while federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten called on the government to release details of the proposed agreement.
It is widely expected that dairy is expected to win tariff concessions, but it may not be of the same scope as New Zealand’s trade agreement with China, which was signed in 2008. That deal has helped New Zealand become the world’s biggest dairy exporter, while Australia’s milk production has been stagnant in recent years, having slumped about 20 per cent since the late 1990s.
“I don’t want to complete the negotiation in the public arena, but we are determined to look after the national interest,” Mr Robb said.
The minister also was tight-lipped about reports that sugar could be left out of the agreement because it is a main income source for China’s southern ethnic minority groups.
“Let’s not jump to conclusions. We have had to fight a hard fight on a lot of agricultural fronts,” he said.
“I think we will have a material gain in the national interest sense and in the agricultural sense. Some won’t get what they want. Others will get what they want. But we’re still in that final negotiation.”
Farmers have criticised a trade agreement the Abbott government signed earlier this year with Japan, with the National Farmers Federation saying it “falls short of the mark on a number of fronts”.
“The agreement does not improve – or marginally improves – market access and terms of trade for a number of sectors such as dairy, sugar, grains, pork and rice,” NFF president Brett Finlay said after the Japan agreement was signed in April.
He hoped the China deal would deliver a better result.
“Securing good deals for agriculture is always a difficult part of any negotiations and it is clearly the case for Japan. Given we export 60 per cent of the food and fibre we produce in Australia, our farmers need good commercial outcomes from future trade negotiations,” Mr Finlay said.
Mr Shorten said on Sunday the specifics of the China deal needed to be spelt out by the Abbott government. “Will China lift tariffs on our mineral imports, especially in aluminium and iron ore? What will they do about sugar? The live export beef deal looks promising, that part of it. I am also going to be curious – will Andrew Robb get a deal which is equal to, or superior, to the deal that New Zealand has?
“It’s not just a demand to say that sugar should get access to Chinese markets, it is not just a demand to say that China should lift the tax as it’s put on our iron ore going into China. Everyone knows iron ore prices are very low and now we have got extra taxes to pay on it.”
Mr Shorten said while Labor believed in open borders when it came to trade, he warned that Australian jobs should be created – not lost – by the deal.
China has been pushing for greater scope to import workers for projects funded by its investors, possibly through the 457 visa program.
“Frankly, if there is a big development in Australia I would rather see Australians get the opportunity to be employed first. And that is not a case [for] we shouldn’t have guest workers. Australia has always had guest workers.”
