UK, Australia strike new free trade agreement

Australia and the United Kingdom have agreed to a new trade deal, a first major deal post-Brexit.

The Australian Prime Minister had a working dinner with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at Downing Street last night, with a formal announcement expected on Tuesday.

According to the BBC, the meal served up to the pair on Monday evening included Welsh lamb and Scottish smoked salmon, and was washed down with Australian wine.

It is the first trade deal to be negotiated from scratch since the UK left the EU.

The new deal is expected to give UK and Australian food producers and other businesses easier access to each other’s markets.

However, the leaders were initially stuck on several issues, including a plan by the British to add tariffs to Australian farming imports for the next ten years.

Behind the scenes, bureaucrats have been working frantically to reach a deal, and now both leaders are believed to have made concessions.

The new trade deal is expected to give UK and Australian food producers and other businesses easier access to each other’s markets.

According to the National Farmers Union (NFU), Australian farmers are able to produce beef at a lower cost of production, and could undercut farmers in the UK.

Australia’s top 10 export markets

Australia still leads the world when it comes to exporting iron, coal and petroleum gases.

Australia’s biggest export products by value in 2020 were iron, coal, petroleum gases, gold and aluminium. In aggregate, those major exports account for 63.1% of overall exports sales from Australia.

The following export product groups categorize the highest dollar value in Australian global shipments during 2020. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Australia.

1. Ores, slag, ash: US$91.3 billion (35.9% of total exports)
2. Mineral fuels including oil: $65.4 billion (25.7%)
3. Gems, precious metals: $19.6 billion (7.7%)
4. Meat: $10.4 billion (4.1%)
5. Inorganic chemicals: $5.2 billion (2%)
6. Machinery including computers: $4.4 billion (1.7%)
7. Cereals: $3.8 billion (1.5%)
8. Pharmaceuticals: $3.4 billion (1.4%)
9. Electrical machinery, equipment: $3.1 billion (1.2%)
10. Aluminum: $3.1 billion (1.2%)