FTA now a ‘no-brainer’ to counter US tariff turmoil: EU envoy

The EU’s top diplomat in Australia says an urgent resumption of its stalled free-trade with Canberra is an obvious response to US President Donald Trump’s worldwide tariffs chaos.

EU Ambassador to Australia Gabriele Visentin. Picture: David Beach / The Australian

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The EU’s top diplomat in Australia has called for the urgent resumption of stalled free-trade talks between Canberra and the 27-nation bloc, saying that an Australia-EU FTA is a “no-brainer” as Donald Trump’s tariffs wreak economic chaos across the world.

Drawing a contrast with the US under President Trump, the EU ambassador to Australia, Gab­riele Visentin, said Europe was a reliable and predictable partner that respected the rule of law and knew how to keep a deal.

He said the geopolitical upheavals sweeping the globe were “inviting us to get even closer”, opening the way for a historic partnership founded on shared values and Australia’s wartime sacrifices in Europe during World War I and World War II.

As Anthony Albanese flags Australian support for Europe’s “coalition of the willing” peacekeeping force in Ukraine, Mr Visentin said closer trade ties, new arms deals, defence exercises, critical minerals ventures and scientific co-operation should all be on the table.

“I don’t want to exaggerate, but I think we are at the watershed moment where we really have to come to terms with what our values are, and what we really want in the longer run for our democracies, yours and ours. I think it makes sense,” he said.

Australia’s seven-year effort to secure a free-trade deal with the EU collapsed in late 2023 amid an impasse over Australian agricultural exports to the 450 million consumers.

Trade Minister Don Farrell complained at the time that European negotiators had “barely budged” in the final months of talks, with market access for Australian beef, mutton, lamb and sugar one of the final sticking points.

The EU is now mounting a renewed FTA push in response to the US’s America First protectionism, clinching a deal with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia in December after 25 years of talks, and revamping its free-trade agreement with Mexico in January.

Anthony Albanese talks with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen during the NATO summit.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the Prime Minister discussed the prospect of fresh trade talks in a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ meeting in Brazil in November, agreeing a deal would be in the interests of both Australia and Europe.

Mr Visentin said the EU had presented “a very sensible” proposal to Australia before negotiations had ground to a halt, but conceded Europe’s farmers had been “noisier” than Australia’s.

He said the EU was ready to resume negotiations to refine the proposed agreement, and there were “well-grounded hopes” a new round of talks would get under way after Australia’s May election. “There are still outstanding issues but given the geopolitical situation and given the numbers that are already the basis for our economic relations, it’s a no-brainer to do the FTA,” Mr Visentin said.

“I’m not the negotiator myself. I am here to build the bridges. But I tell you that there is a clear willingness to sit at the table and to resume talks. And with an FTA, from day one, all tariffs are done. The tariffs that the EU suffers from Australia, and the tariffs that Australia is suffering from the EU – they will be gone, on top of many, many other things, like a foreign direct investment push.”

Mr Visentin said freer trade offered an antidote to the economic turmoil arising from Mr Trump’s trade agenda, which has seen global markets plunge and set US trading partners on edge ahead of a fresh round of tariffs from April 2. “The right answer against the disruption of the world economy and the world market is precisely more free trade,” he said.

US President Donald Trump at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington.

Alluding to Mr Trump’s trampling over free-trade agreements with Australia, Canada and Mexico, Mr Visentin said Australia and Europe could trust each other to stick to any deal that was struck.

“We believe in the rule of law. We have governments which are accountable to oppositions and the free press. And when we say rule of law, I mean that we abide by rules; I mean treaties, which makes us reliable, predictable partners on top of being allies and friends,” he said.

Mr Visentin said Australia’s and Europe’s common values were grounded in shared wartime sacrifice, and the EU saw Australia’s support for Ukraine as part of that tradition.

He said the EU was delighted at Mr Albanese’s consideration of an Australian peacekeeping deployment to Ukraine under the British and French-led plan, arguing it was not just Europe’s security at stake from Russian aggression but the entire world’s.

Europe also stood with Australia in its pushback against Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, Mr Visentin said, arguing that the EU was determined to keep the ­region free and open. He said while China was Europe’s No. 2 trading partner after the US, Beijing “has to be made aware that there are rules to be ­respected”.

As Europe prepares an €800bn ($1.37 trillion) boost to military spending, Mr Visentin said there were fresh opportunities for EU-Australia arms deals, levering European manufacturers’ world-leading capabilities.

He said Europe, which was already sending more ships and aircraft to participate in Australia’s key exercises, was keen to expand military co-operation in the Indo-Pacific, and could share deep expertise in combatting cyber and hybrid attacks gained from countering Russian interference in elections across the continent.

He said Europe also hoped to see Australian involvement in its €93.5bn ($160bn) Horizon Europe research and innovation partnership, and urged closer co-operation on developing Australia’s critical minerals resources to ensure European supplies chains for the key technology input.