It is important to note that Australian agricultural commodity exports are particularly price sensitive and
the 40 per cent average appreciation of beef exports naturally depressed demand in a recovering US
economy. In fact, Australia has not met the beef import quota of 408,000 tonnes in 2011 and exports were
only 168,000 tonnes, with a value of US$774 million. Australian beef exports have been diverted to Asia
(eg Japan during the BSE scare over US beef), but full opening of the US market in 2023 provides
opportunities as prices change.
AUSFTA also provided national and MFN treatment and broadened market access under a negative This was significant as services account for 70-80 per cent of the national incomes of both countries. Services are also very price sensitive and the high Australian dollar from the mid-2000s affected exports of tourism, transportation and other services such as education. Nevertheless, many contracting, finance and other service providers expanded operations in the US market ± switching modes from cross-border trade to foreign affiliate trade in services (FATS). Importantly, the agreemen.
Importantly, the agreement also improved access for service providers of both countries, strengthened the
IPR regime, opened government procurement markets and eliminated notification requirements for most
investment. The threshold for investing in non-prescribed Australian businesses above which approval is US exports of goods
US exports of services
Australian goods exports to the US
Australian services exports to the US
required was considerably increased to around A$1 billion for US investors, compared with A$231
million for other foreign investors ± with this threshold later accorded to New Zealand. AUSFTA also
guaranteed market restrictions embodied in the US stimulus packages from 2008 ± such as a mandate for US state and
federal governments to purchase only US manufactured steel.
AUSFTA also provided national and MFN treatment and broadened market access under a negative This was significant as services account for 70-80 per cent of the national incomes of both countries. Services are also very price sensitive and the high Australian dollar from the mid-2000s affected exports of tourism, transportation and other services such as education. Nevertheless, many contracting, finance and other service providers expanded operations in the US market ± switching modes from cross-border trade to foreign affiliate trade in services (FATS). Importantly, the agreemen.
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| Trends in US Australia Trade in goods and services |