On the 27th of February signed the AANZFTA with the 10 members of ASEAN (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mynamar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam). It is Austrlaia's first regional FTA and there will be significant reduction in protection for agriculture, services, chemicals and electrical goods.
Interestingly "With the car industry, Mr Crean said there had been tough negotiations and Australia would eliminate tariffs for all ASEAN nations. “But there will be slower phase-out arrangements for tariffs on vehicles manufactured in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand as Australia demanded reciprocal arrangements with those countries,” he said.
Mr Crean said some of these higher car tariff schedules could be addressed in bilateral FTAs.
“I am pleased to say the agreement will achieve very significant tariff cuts on automotive parts and components,”This means the noodle bowl of FTAs and regionalism continues where despite a regional FTA not all aspects are covered and individual negiotions are needed to gain concessions on key aspects like the automative industry.
If you would like to read more on the noodle bowl syndrome then take a look at this paper no. 7 from the Asian Development Bank.
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