UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement

On 16 December 2021, the United Kingdom signed an historic trade agreement with the Commonwealth of Australia, the first from ‘scratch’ UK trade deal since it left the EU.  The UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement is Australia’s second-largest trade treaty with another country and gives UK firms guaranteed access to bid for an additional £10 billion worth of Australian public sector contracts per year; allows young people to work and travel in Australia for up to three years at a time, removing previous visa conditions; and removes tariffs on all UK exports.

 

According to the UK Government, this deal also represents a gateway into the fast-growing Indo-Pacific region and will boost its bid to join Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), one of the largest free trade areas in the world.  However, UK farmers have expressed concern that they could be undercut by cheap imports.