Media releases
Friday 12 July 2002 - MVT072/2002
Zoellick Backs FTA with Australia
Calls by the United States Trade Representative (USTR), Bob Zoellick,
for deeper economic ties between Australia and the United States are
a further sign of the US’s commitment towards pursuing a stronger
relationship between our two countries, Trade Minister Mark Vaile
said today.
Speaking from Tripoli, Libya, where he is leading an Australian Trade
Delegation to the North African nation, Mr Vaile said USTR Zoellick’s
suggestion that an FTA would make Australia more attractive for investment
and better integrate Australia’s business sector with the innovation
of highly competitive businesses in the US are exactly right.
“Closer relations would increase trade and investment and help drive
further innovation and productivity in our economy,” Mr Vaile said.
“Economic analysts forecast that an FTA with the US would contribute
a further $A4 billion a year to the Australian economy, in turn creating
more opportunities for job creation and increased wealth.”
“Bob’s comments that an FTA fits well into the larger trade strategies
by both the United States and Australia; to press forward with regional
and bilateral trade initiatives while simultaneously advancing trade
globally through the WTO, send a strong signal to those detractors
who question Australia’s aggressive trade policy agenda.
“His words are a clear indication that our trade policy is on the
right track, and that we can walk and chew gum at the same time.
“Our trade policy efforts are not mutually exclusive. If Australia
is to continue to prosper we must ensure that we move ahead on all
fronts and in a way that meets new challenges facing the trading system.
“I am also encouraged by Bob Zoellick’s recognition that agriculture
is a sensitive and important issue that needs to be addressed if we
are to advance an FTA, as well as his recognition that Australia is
one of the few nations that has credibility on the issue of agricultural
trade reform to question the US Farm Bill.
“All in all Bob Zoellick’s comments are a further step in the right
direction for the future of an Australia/US FTA.”
Mr Vaile said further progress on a free trade agreement would need
to await the decision by U.S. Congress on Trade Promotion Authority
– the negotiating mandate for the President.
USTR Zoellick had been speaking at the Australian American Leadership
Dialogue in Washington on the theme “A Pacific Partnership: Australia
and America In a Globalizing World.
Media Contact: Mark Croxford +61 02 6277 7420
Local Date:
Friday, 05-Dec-2008 14:15:37 EST
