This content was published on June 15, 2021 – 09:15
London, Jun 15 (EFE) .- The United Kingdom and Australia have reached a trade agreement that will eliminate tariffs on the products of both countries. It is the first major pact of its kind negotiated by London since Brexit, the Government reported on Tuesday.
The terms of this agreement were closed on Tuesday in the meeting that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had with his Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison, at his official residence at 10 Downing Street, in London.
This pact, described as “historic” by the Johnson Executive, will allow British cars or Scotch whiskey to be sold at lower prices under this free trade agreement, with a boost for these sectors that employ more than three million people in the UK.
Likewise, mechanisms are established to facilitate qualified immigration between the two countries, while the two parties will intensify cooperation in matters of security, climate change, science and technology, said the Executive.
The final agreement, according to the British Government, will be announced in the coming days.
The two leaders highlighted in their meeting the “lasting partnership” between the United Kingdom and Australia.
The commercial relationship between the two countries was valued last year at 13.9 billion pounds (16,124 million euros) and is expected to grow with the new agreement.
British farmers, according to the Government, will be protected with a limit on duty-free imports for 15 years, while farmers will be supported by increasing their exports, including in markets in the Indo-Pacific area.
“Today marks a new dawn in the UK’s relations with Australia, underpinned by their shared history and common values,” the British prime minister said in the note.
“Our new free trade agreement opens up fantastic opportunities for British businesses and consumers, as well as young people who want the opportunity to work and live on the other side of the world,” added Johnson.
Metals, wines and machinery have been part of Australia’s main exports to the UK, while Australia has mainly imported cars, drugs and alcoholic beverages from the British.
The deal has been greeted with reservations by the powerful National Farmers Union (NFU), which believes that Australians produce beef at low costs and may create a disadvantageous situation for British farmers.
The prime minister, the architect of the Brexit victory in the 2016 referendum, had promised that the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union (EU), finalized in 2020, would allow his country to negotiate trade agreements with countries outside the European bloc . EFE
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