| Australia Free Trade Agreement |
U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick and
Australian Minister of Trade Mark Vaile signed a landmark Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on May 18, 2004
that will eliminate more than 99 percent of manufactured goods tariffs between the two
countries from day one, open services and agricultural markets, and further deepen their
already strong economic ties. The U.S.-Australia FTA is the first FTA between the United States
and a developed country since the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement in 1988. Australia is a large and growing trade and investment partner of
the United States, and in 2003 was America’s 14th largest export market for goods. Two-way goods
and services trade is nearly $29 billion, a 53-percent increase since 1994. |
