Japan and Australia have entered into a large-scale trade agreement which envisages lower duties for a number of imported goods, BBC News informs. In particular, Australia will cut the duties on electronics, household equipment, and automobiles from Japan, while the latter will make concessions for Australian beef imports. Moreover, Tokyo will raise the duty-free quota on Australian goods.
The agreement has been negotiated for long 7 years. It is to be finalized during the visit of Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Australia in late 2014. His Australian counterpart, Tony Abbott, emphasized that this is the first deal his country has made with a large economy, that is why it is a true milestone.
Currently, a group of countries including the United States, Japan, and Australia, are discussing the Trans-Pacific Partnership that would ensure free trade for 12 Asia-Pacific nations. At the start of the year, the negotiations reached a stalemate, partly due to the pending customs duties dispute between Japan and America.
The Japan-Australia deal is likely to catalyze an agreement within the Trans-Pacific Partnership framework, as now Australia seems to have privileges over the Unites States in trade with Japan, and this can urge Washington to act.
With the GDP exceeding 6 trillion U.S. dollars, Japan is the world’s third economy. It is the second important trade partner for Australia after China.
