Britain’s International Trade Secretary will enter trade negotiations with senior politicians in Australia to determine a post-Brexit trade-deal. This would be an important deal since the trade between these two countries is worth more than £15 billion.
Speaking ahead of the visit in Canberra, the International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said: “It’s great to be in Australia this week as you are one of our highest priorities for a post-Brexit trade deal. And with good reason – trade between our two countries was worth £16.6 billion in the year to March 2019, and we have more than £46 billion invested in each other’s economies.
Now, for the first time in nearly half a century, we are taking back control of our trade policy. I want to see an ambitious trade deal which reduces tariff and non-tariff barriers for UK exporters.
But we cannot afford to wait. Britain is going to be ready to trade after Brexit. That’s why I’m so pleased that today we are reaffirming our commitment to launch bilateral free trade agreement negotiations as soon as possible.
It’s good to see that Australia is going to quick off the mark and it’ll be mirrored by the UK under our new government – a government that takes action.”
The UK is one of Australia’s largest trading partners and the trading relationship was worth £16.6 billion in the twelve months to March 2019. Around 15,000 UK businesses export their goods to Australia.
The Department for International Trade has helped many of these businesses to secure contracts to export their goods and services to Australia, which has resulted in British online supermarket pioneers Ocado partnering with retail giant Coles to bring their world leading technology to Australia, transforming online shopping and delivery for customers
Despite already strong trade links, there are still trade barriers holding British businesses back.
Some UK exporters face tariff barriers into Australian markets, including up to 5% in the automotive and machinery sectors.
The UK government’s negotiating strategy will be based on one of the largest public consultations in British history. This involved more than 146,000 people and organizations sharing their views about a future UK-Australia free trade agreement.
