Achieving a successful outcome for Australia in the World Trade Organisation’s Doha round is the nation’s top trade policy priority, according to Trade Minister Warren Truss.
Achieving a successful outcome for Australia in the World Trade Organisation’s Doha round is the nation’s top trade policy priority, according to Trade Minister Warren Truss.
Mr Truss told a WA Business News Meet the Ambassadors function last week he remained optimistic about the free trade negotiations, despite having concerns about the scope of the talks.
“There is a growing expectation that there will be an agreement, but our concern is it will be one of low ambition,” he said.
Mr Truss said Australia’s aim was to significantly reduce trade barriers on goods and services, although he acknowledged certain agricultural sectors continued to pose difficulties.
“If we can break down (tariff) barriers, the opportunity to build our export performance will grow with each success,” he told the breakfast forum. “Certainly, industries like sugar and dairy are far harder to achieve an international breakthrough.”
Mr Truss said while protection of sugar markets was an issue in the Doha round, international agricultural coalition the Cairns Group had achieved some progress with a recent trade paper.
He also said it was important that countries in the developing world, including India and Brazil, played a role in securing global free trade.
With Singapore, Thailand, New Zealand and the US having already signed agreements with Australia, Mr Truss said negotiations with Malaysia were most likely to be finalised next, while Chile was another possible partner.
And the likelihood of an agreement with Japan was looking promising after one round of discussions.
“Japan is now increasingly aware of the need to shore up its relationship with Australia, particularly because of the competition for resources,” he said.
And while a free trade agreement with China was expected to take “a good while yet”, Mr Truss said it presented a huge opportunity for WA.
He also alluded to the challenges posed by the mining boom for Western Australia, among them wages pressure and labour shortages.
“Growth brings its own challenges, but I don’t know of too many people who would want to trade off our growth for previous times,” Mr Truss said.
When questioned on Australia’s trade deficit, Mr Truss said it would be desirable to reduce the size of the deficit, particularly for the manufacturing sector.
“However, our imports have had a positive impact on the economy and are expected to do so in future. We all remain optimistic that as we become more competitive in a range of sectors, that gap will narrow,” he said.