From protectionism to “Free Trade”, Australia’s long road to a trade rules based order: the Free Trade Agreement with the European Union

Mascitelli, B. and Wilson, B. (2019) From protectionism to “Free Trade”, Australia’s long road to a trade rules based order: the Free Trade Agreement with the European Union. Asia Pacific Journal of EU Studies, 17(2), pp. 1-20.

Abstract

From the early days of Anglo-settlement, Australia was a strong defender of protectionist trade policies. This began in the relations between the colonial states which engaged in closer and freer trade with their colonial master, the United Kingdom (UK), than with other colonies. However, by the 1950s, Australia was a staunch defender of the GATT approach in its attempts to create a greater level playing field across many sectors and especially in the agricultural sector. The Australian Government made its most significant leap into free trade with the reforms to the economy in the 1980s which continued in the following decades, ultimately leading to bilateral relations trade agreements with some eleven nations with a further five waiting for implementation. Its most ambitious Free Trade Agreements have been with China, Japan and South Korea as they were Australia’s key markets and were at the same time Australia’s first, second and third most important export destination. A Free Trade Agreement with the European Union (EU) remains a key objective. The EU is not yet “institutionalised” with a trade agreement yet it is Australia’s second largest trade partner (regional) and includes (at the time of writing) one of its historical primary trading partners, the United Kingdom (UK). For decades trade discussions with the European Union (and its predecessors) brought very little comfort or agreement in Australian trading circles. Australian agricultural producers had lost a crucial market when the UK had joined the Common Market, and had had to make amends to cover that loss. Over time the global markets changed and Australia’s new trade preferences, with Asian partners in particular, were able to compensate for that loss. The EU has re-emerged as a market of significant interest and the past tensions are being put to bed. It was, in the words of the former Trade Minister, the “missing piece” in Australia’s trade scenario.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Wilson, Professor Bruce
• Authors: Mascitelli, B., and Wilson, B.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education
• Journal Name: Asia Pacific Journal of EU Studies
• ISSN: 1598-8902