Starting today, major export costs will be eliminated for South Australian producers and businesses when sending certain goods to the United Kingdom, as the Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement (A-UKFTA) takes effect.
The historic A-UKFTA will eliminate tariffs on over 99 per cent of Australian goods exports to the UK, opening new export opportunities, especially for the agriculture sector.
This includes Australian exports of wine, honey, nuts, and manufactured products like electrical equipment and cosmetic products.
For some agricultural products like beef, sheep meat, dairy and sugar, Australia will have access to expanding tariff quota volumes – within 10 years these tariff quotas will be eliminated completely.
After five years, all UK imports will enter Australia duty free.
In the year ending March 2023, goods exported from South Australia to the UK were valued at $380.4 million.
The UK is South Australia’s most valuable destination for wine exports, totalling $239.9 million in the same period, with wine representing around two-thirds of the State’s overall exports to the UK.
Meanwhile, South Australia’s machinery and transport equipment to the UK was valued at $42.3 million to the year ending March 2023, and its meat exports went out at $19.6 million.
While wine currently dominates exports to the UK, the A-UKFTA will provide opportunities for meat, seafood and other South Australian premium produce to soar.
The United Kingdom is the fourth largest investor into the State. Since 2003, UK foreign direct investment totalled over $2.8 billion, creating an estimated 2,553 jobs for the State.
The A-UKFTA also provides a framework for professional bodies to agree to streamline licensing processes for the movement of qualified professionals between Australia and the UK.
This will help address skills shortages and provide opportunities for greater career development for South Australians – especially in building nuclear-powered submarines as part of the AUKUS agreement.
In two years, Australians will be able to apply for working holidays in the UK to the age of 35, up from 30, and stay for a maximum of three years instead of two.
Earlier this month, Trade and Investment Minister Nick Champion met with United Kingdom, Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade the Rt Hon Nigel Huddleston MP and the Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, the Hon Stephen Smith.
Quotes
Attributable to Nick Champion
The United Kingdom is a lucrative trading partner for the state, with South Australia exporting more to the UK than it imports.
The FTA represents one of the most comprehensive, innovative and ambitious
free trade agreements concluded by Australia to date and strengthens an already
close relationship.
We will soon be home to the construction of some of the most complex machines in our history as we deliver for the AUKUS deal – a task the United Kingdom has plenty of experience in delivering.
This FTA will provide a better partnership by building shared approaches to trade and investment, coupled with opportunities for exporting skills and training for the benefit of both countries.
