Don Farrell’s pitch for fair trading

Don Farrell has confirmed that Australia’s free-trade agreements with UK and India will go through parliament next week.

Trade Minister Don Farrell.

“Free and fair” trading should be embraced, and protectionism avoided, minister Don Farrell says, confirming that Australia’s free-trade agreements with UK and India will go through parliament next week.

It comes as Anthony Albanese meets with leaders including US President Joe Biden at the G20 in Bali, with hopes his discussions with China will lead to an easing of $20bn of trade sanctions Beijing imposed on Australia over the past two years.

Senator Farrell said it was ­unlikely Australia would adopt similar “draconian” actions to those of the US in its approach to China, after Washington ­announced it would cut off some hi-tech ­exports to Beijing, including semiconductor chips.

“The Americans … don’t want to find themselves in a situation where they’re reliant on a trading partner who ultimately turns out to be unreliable,” the Trade Minister said. “Will we go down the same path? Well we don’t have plans to do that at the moment … to go down the more draconian actions that the US have gone down.”

He said that Australia had to “convince and encourage” the US to look outwards rather than embracing protectionism as it had under Donald Trump. “Protectionism doesn’t solve your problems. If it does anything, it makes them worse,” he said. “Our job is to lead the way in a free and fair trade environment.”

Senator Farrell said the free-trade agreement with the European Union was also progressing after “some problems” early on regarding the former government’s position on climate change and its decision not to progress with the French submarine deal.

“Hopefully in the first half of next year we can nail an ­agreement with the Europeans,” he said.