John Baron MP welcomes UK – Australia Trade Agreement

MP: Deal is a springboard to CPTPP

Last night it was announced that the Prime Minister and his Australian counterpart had agreed the main terms of the UK – Australia free trade agreement. This is the first wholly new trade agreement since we joined the EEC in 1973, and eliminate tariffs on all UK goods, boosting jobs and businesses across the country. British cars, Scotch whisky, biscuits and ceramics will be cheaper to sell to Australia, and Britons under the age of 35 will find it even easier to travel and work in Australia. Meanwhile, British farmers will be protected by a cap on tariff-free imports for 15 years using tariff rate quotas and other safeguards.

John said,

“I congratulate the British and Australian Governments, and their negotiating teams, on this free trade agreement. One of the greatest Brexit bonuses is regaining the ability to run our own independent trade policy, and this super new deal with Australia will be the first of many – especially as it will act as a springboard to joining the CPTPP.”

Notes to Editors:

• The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is a trade area encompassing eleven countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, which accounts for £9 trillion of trade and which generates 13% of the world’s income.