Australia’s new Trans-Pacific Partnership deal begins with ‘vast opportunities’

Farmers and exporters will be able to take advantage of new ­foreign markets as the TPP comes into effect tonight.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said opportunities for Australian exporters were vast. Picture: Tracey Nearmy

Farmers and exporters will be able to take advantage of new ­foreign markets as the Trans-­Pacific Partnership comes into effect tonight.

Australian producers will be able to access newer and bigger markets in Japan, Canada, Mexico and seven other nations involved in the trade negotiations that replaced the previous 12-member deal until Donald Trump pulled the US out of talks.

The deal also provides key export markets for Australian goods such as cheese, rice, beef and sugar at a time when global trade is starting to feel the impact of a ratcheting up of tariffs between the US and China, the world’s largest economies.

With a series of escalating ­tariff spats threatening to dampen economic growth, the US President is attempting to secure special treatment for American farmers with China.

“Opportunities for Australian exporters are vast,” Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said.

“From our wine producers in South Australia’s Barossa Valley to our dairy farmers in Victoria and our sugarcane farmers in Queensland, the TPP-11 will open more doors for Australian farmers and businesses.”

The deal includes New Zealand, Malaysia, Chile, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Canada and Mexico. It is Australia’s first trade agreement with Canada and Mexico.

Labor was under pressure to block the TPP over provisions in the trade deal that allowed the importation of workers. The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union threatened to withhold funding for Labor over the party’s decision to support the deal.

Labor is expected to try to expunge the conditions in side deals with TPP member countries.

Key highlights for Australia in the deal include reductions in Japanese tariffs on beef and elimination of a number of tariffs on cheese. Dairy and sugar farmers will also get better access to ­Canadian and Mexican markets.

For the first time in 20 years, Australian farmers will get new access to Japanese rice markets.

Tariffs have been eliminated on sheep meat, cotton, wool and industrial products, while seafood horticulture exports and wine tariffs have been relaxed.

Trade deals with China, Japan and South Korea have also recently come into force under the Coalition government.

“The deals are yielding ­results, with Australia ­recording surpluses for 21 of the last 24 months, reversing a long-­running trend of monthly trade deficits,” Senator Birmingham said.

Tony Battaglene, chief executive of the Winemakers Federation of Australia, said the removal of the 20 per cent Mexican tariff on Australian wine would allow locals to compete on a level playing field with Mexican producers.

“The wine and spirits annex of TPP-11 is the first of its kind, and will bring greater certainty to Australian wine exporters by addressing non-tariff-barriers,” Mr Battaglene said. “These barriers can make the export process more costly and impose unreasonable requirements on exporters.”