Trade deal signed with Australia

As a sovereign trading nation, Britain is able to be open to the world, tread our own path, and forge new and deeper relationships.

Britain has now used this freedom to sign a historic trade agreement with Australia, our first ‘from scratch’ since leaving the EU, setting new global standards in digital and services, creating new work and travel opportunities for British and Australian people, and unlocking over £10 billion worth of trade.

Signing this historic agreement will bring a boost to our economy and increase wages for workers across the country, helping us to level up every corner of our nation.

This trade deal with Australia is bringing a boost to the whole of the UK by:

• Eliminating all tariffs on our imports and exports to Australia, bringing greater trading opportunities to British businesses. The deal removes tariffs on all UK exports, making it cheaper to sell iconic British products like cars, whisky and UK fashion to Australia, while making Australian favourites like Jacob’s Creek and Hardy’s wines, Tim Tams, Vegemite and surfboards cheaper for British consumers.
• Unlocking over £10 billion of additional trade, opening new doors for British businesses and boosting British wages. This deal gives UK businesses guaranteed access to bid for an additional £10 billion worth of Australian public sector contracts per year, putting them on an equal footing with Australian companies.
• Making it easier for people to travel between the UK and Australia, strengthening the historic ties between our two countries. Under the agreement, British people under the age of 35 will be able to travel and work in Australia more freely, opening up exciting opportunities for young people.
• Providing greater access to visas for UK service suppliers, creating new work opportunities for British and Australian people. For the first time UK service suppliers including architects, scientists, researchers, lawyers and accountants will have access to visas to work in Australia without being subject to their skilled occupation list. This is more than Australia has ever offered any other country in a free trade agreement.
• Supporting emerging British industries, helping to create a more sustainable future. In 2019 Australia was the largest producer of lithium and the third largest producer of cobalt, which are used in electric vehicle batteries. This deal will fully remove tariffs on these products on day one of the agreement coming into force, making it cheaper to produce electric vehicles. 
• Protecting and supporting British farmers, so they can benefit from new trading opportunities. British farmers will be protected by a cap on tariff-free imports for 15 years, using tariff rate quotas and other safeguards. We are also supporting agricultural producers to increase their exports overseas, including to new markets in the Indo-Pacific.
• Building on our bid for UK membership of CPTPP, one of the largest free trade areas in the world. This deal is a gateway into the fast-growing Indo-Pacific region and will boost our bid to join CPTPP, a free trade area covering £8.4 trillion of GDP and 11 Pacific nations from Australia to Mexico.
• Delivering for every part of our Union, levelling up and creating opportunity across the country. The deal will play an important role in levelling up the UK, delivering benefits for towns, cities and rural areas throughout the country. It is expected to increase trade with Australia by 53 per cent, boost the economy by £2.3 billion and add £900 million to household wages each year in the long run.
• Signing the first major trade deal from scratch since we left the EU, showing the opportunities we now have as a sovereign trading nation. We have already secured 70 trade deals plus the EU worth almost £900 billion into law – but our trade deal with Australia is the first one negotiated from scratch, showing how we can use the new opportunities available to us outside of the EU to deliver for the British people.

This builds on the steps we have already taken to boost Global Britain:

• Securing 70 trade deals plus one with the EU, signaling to the world we are once again a sovereign free trading nation. Our historic Trade Act allows us to put the agreements we have struck as a newly independent twenty-first century trading nation into law. For the first time in almost 50 years, the interests of the British people and their businesses’ can be put first in our trade agreements.
• Formally launching accession negotiations to join CPTTP, giving UK businesses access to one of the world’s largest free trade areas.  Joining CPTPP – a partnership worth £8.4 trillion – would remove tariffs on 95 per cent of goods traded between us and the eleven other member states, and would put the UK at the centre of a network of free trade deals with fast-growing markets and major economies in the Asia-Pacific.
• Securing an excellent deal with the EU, delivering on what the British people voted for. As promised, we have taken back control of our laws, borders, money, trade and fisheries – and ended any role for the European Court of Justice. It is the first free trade agreement based on zero tariffs and zero quotas the EU has ever agreed, meaning businesses and people are able to continue to buy goods from Europe tariff-free.