China and Australia are expected to announced a free trade agreement (FTA) when China’s president Xi Jinping addresses Australia’s parliament in Canberra on Monday.
The FTA has been in negotiation since 2005, with Australia’s agriculture industry largely expected to reap benefits from the agreement. In particular, Australia’s dairy, meat and horticulture farmers in the state of Victoria are seen to be some of the major beneficiaries of a bilateral agreement.
“As a whole, it will be massive because if we can get extra dairy and red meat and horticulture into China the effects will flow right through the community,” Peter Tuohey, president of the Victorian Farmers Federation, told Fairfax. “So you’ll pick up extra market, which will help improve the viability of the dairy, red meat sectors and horticulture. And that money then just starts flowing through the community, so it’s very significant.”
Australia’s agriculture minister expressed similar hopes for Victoria’s agricultural exports, stating at a state election campaign visit that Victoria was well placed in terms of the potential trade agreement.
“I think horticulture will be quite a big winner in the free trade agreement, for sure,” said Judith Damiani, CEO of Citrus Australia, who hopes China’s tariffs on Australian citrus imports will be eliminated. “Any cost along the chain gets eventually passed back to the grower. So every cost in the chain that we can eliminate is a benefit back to the grower.”
Once the deal has been made, it will still need to be approved by the Australian parliament and Senate.
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