Why the TPP is important for Australia
After years of negotiations, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has been signed. Chief Executive of the Business Council of Australia Jennifer Westacott explains why this is good news for Australia.
The Trans–Pacific Partnership (TPP) puts Australia firmly in the front seat of the biggest global trade deal in 20 years. This is an extraordinary deal for our future prosperity and we’ve done it on our terms, something Trade Minister Andrew Robb should be congratulated for.
The TPP opens up a swathe of new opportunities for Australia’s exporters to countries accounting for 40 per cent of global GDP and 70 per cent of Australia’s trade flow.
What this means is huge opportunities for Australia to tap into global supply chains, to expand our high-value manufacturing, to supercharge our agricultural sector and to get our services exports firing on all fronts around the region.
Together with the completion of the North Asia free trade agreements, the TPP will create a platform to power the Australian economy for decades to come.
This historic opportunity must be grasped by the Australian Parliament, which must act responsibly and in the interests of a stronger future by ratifying the China–Australia Free Trade Agreement and the TPP with no delay.
A responsible parliament would look at the untold opportunities from these agreements to support Australian jobs and higher living standards for years to come, rather than nit picking for political reasons. The comments by the Labor Party on the TPP are a welcome sign they recognise the deal’s benefits.
Australia’s exports of goods and services to these countries were worth $109 billion last year – a third of Australia’s total exports. Australian investment in TPP countries was 45 per cent of all Australia’s outward investment.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade estimates the TPP will eliminate 98 per cent of tariffs in the TPP region, and eliminate tariffs on US$8.6 billion of Australia’s exports to TPP countries.
This is unambiguously good for Australia, jobs and prosperity.
The conclusion of the TPP is the first concrete step towards realising the long-term vision of a free trade area of the Asia-Pacific. The Asia-Pacific remains the key driver of global economic growth.
The TPP will integrate under a common platform of trade rules 12 key Asia Pacific economies, making it simpler for Australian businesses to pursue new opportunities in multiple markets. Whether exports are operating in the United States or Japan, common rules of trade apply.
The TPP will lower the cost of doing business with more transparent and efficient customs procedures making it easier for Australian companies to export and do business in the region.
Commitments on state-owned enterprises will also ensure Australian businesses compete on a level playing field by setting commonly-agreed rules and promoting transparency of laws and regulations.
The Business Council congratulates the trade minister on completing the first regional trade agreement spanning the Asia-Pacific and looks forward to swift ratification of the agreement, including from the US Congress.
Jennifer Westacott has been Chief Executive of the Business Council of Australia since 2011, bringing extensive policy experience in both the public and private sectors. Jennifer facilitates the contribution of the Business Council of Australia’s CEO members across a policy agenda that includes economic policy and competitiveness; regulation; infrastructure and sustainable growth; labour market, skills and education; engagement with Indigenous Australians, global engagement; healthcare policy; and innovation. Jennifer has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of New South Wales, where she is an Adjunct Professor at the City Research Futures Centre. She was a Chevening Scholar at the London School of Economics. Jennifer is a National Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and since 2013 has been a Non-Executive Director of Wesfarmers Limited and Chair of the Mental Health Council of Australia.
