Australian Ambassador Amanda Gorely said their country was affected by the decision of the United States to pull out from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Gorely said the decision of US President Donald J. Trump delivered an unexpected blow to America’s Asian allies.
“Yes, Australia is one of the signatories to the TPP, so we are disappointed that Donald Trump has decided to withdraw from the TPP. But Australia and other signatories, including Japan, New Zealand and other countries, are still talking about how we can progress the TPP in the absence of the US. We still believed that it is a viable agreement that creates new trade opportunities,” Gorely said.
The TPP is a comprehensive trade agreement among 12 Pacific Rim countries that was signed last year by President Barrack Obama after seven years of negotiations.
The 30-chapter pact, which also needed to be ratified by other countries before Trump canceled the US involvement, primarily aims to boost exports, remove tariffs and nontariff barriers, open access to more markets, and usher in transparency in trade rules.
Trump opposed the pact because he believes it could hurt American jobs. But the impact of his decision is likely to go beyond trade, giving more leeway to Chinese President Xi Jinping to position their country as an economic and military anchor in the Western Pacific.
In his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Xi likened protectionism to “locking oneself in a dark room”.
Since coming to power, Xi has sought to expand China’s trade ties with its neighbors and begun an ambitious infrastructure project designed to reinvigorate ancient trading routes to the Middle East and Europe.
Other countries that are part of the TPP, in addition to the US, are Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Vietnam, Chile, Brunei, Singapore and New Zealand. These countries represent about 40 percent of the value of goods and services produced worldwide, according to government data.
Gorely said she is sure Australia was prepared to vigorously participate in the TPP until Trump came along.
“Yes, we had started the process of ratification and we are still going through that process. We intend to complete it. Yes, we still had to adjust to the new situation because we believe it is a viable agreement,” Gorely said.
She added: “I was listening to the Australian Trade Minister on the radio this morning and he said there has been no study on quantification of the impact to the US withdrawal, so I cannot put it in economic terms. However, it would have opened up new trades for Australia’s various products.”
Gorely said they also have a bilateral-trade agreement with the US and still see Australia as having a very strong trade relationship with the US.
“It is a pity the US withdrew from the TPP,” she said.
A key selling pitch from the Obama administration was that the agreement would remove more than 18,000 taxes, or tariffs, that have hampered US companies from selling their products in foreign countries.
The TPP also included comprehensive and specific rules about environmental standards, labor practices, influence of state-owned enterprises, trade disputes, e-commerce policies, intellectual-property protection and anticorruption measures.
Gorely said that if the TPP pushes through, Australian agricultural and wine products would have reduced tariffs.
She said the US is their fifth-largest trading partner, with China ranking first, followed by Japan, Republic of Korea and New Zealand.
Meanwhile, Gorely said their focus this year is the Philippines hosting of Asean Summit.
“It is very important and unprecedented. Australia is a dialogue partner. We have strong interests in seeing Asean succeed,” she said.
Gorely added Australia would be working closely with the Philippines during its chairmanship to pursue a number of things, including the regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement which she said the Philippines can make progress toward conclusion at the end of this year.
“We are also focusing on strengthening the trade and investment relationship between Australia and the Philippines. There are over 280 Australian companies currently here and lots of opportunities to grow. There are really some fantastic Filipino investments in Australia, as well,” she said.