Australia-EU trade talks back on amid scramble over Trump tariffs
Salzburg: Australian trade officials will be dispatched to Brussels within days to revive stalled free trade negotiations with the European Union, as escalating global trade tensions – sparked by Donald Trump's return to economic nationalism – inject fresh urgency into finalising the long-delayed pact.
Trade Minister Don Farrell confirmed the breakthrough following an hour-long meeting in Paris on Wednesday with EU Trade Commissioner Maros Šefcovic, where both sides agreed to restart formal discussions.
'We've both agreed now that we're going to restart negotiations,' Farrell told this masthead. 'That'll be kicked off in the next day or two, when we send our officials to Brussels [to] see if we can scope out what are the outstanding issues.'
The renewed momentum comes as Trump's steep tariff hikes on imports to the US trigger a global scramble among its allies to lock in new or more resilient trade partnerships. The US president has doubled tariffs on steel and aluminium from 25 to 50 per cent, while slapping a blanket 10 per cent tariff on all other imports from Australia.
Farrell, who is attending the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting, also met with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the sidelines in Paris to express Australia's 'firm objections' to the new tariffs.
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'We've made clear our position to the United States,' he said. 'This is a critical time for stable, rules-based trade.'
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is also set to raise concerns about the tariffs directly with Trump when the two leaders meet for the first time on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada in about 10 days.
The EU-Australia agreement has been stalled since late 2023, largely due to deadlock over agricultural market access, particularly Australian beef and lamb exports.
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