April 8, 2014

Japan and Australia agree on cutting beef tariffs

After seven years of wrangling, in apact that will lower or eliminate tariffs on goods, including the slashing of beef tariffs, Japan and Australia reached broad agreement on bilateral trade.

The terms of the agreement will see tariffs on frozen Australian beef eventually cut to 19.5% from 38.5%, according to a statement from Prime Minister Tony Abbott's office issued after he met with counterpart Shinzo Abe in Tokyo. Two-way trade between the nations in the 12 months to June 30 reached AUD69.2 billion (US$64.1 billion).

Abbott is visiting Tokyo during his first North Asian trip since coming to power seven months ago, seeking to deepen trade ties with Japan while not damaging relations with China, Australia's biggest trading partner.

The agreement is a "major windfall" for Australian beef, the country's biggest agricultural export to Japan, Abbott's office said in the statement. Cheese exporters will also gain "significant new duty-free access".

The trade deal with Japan could help spur progress on the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to link the economies of 12 countries around the Pacific.

The agreement "with Australia will probably proceed ahead of TPP, so there will be a gap in tariffs between Australian beef and US beef," said Japan's Ambassador to the TPP talks, Hiroshi Oe.