Labor not committed to free-trade deal with US

By GREG ANSLEY

CANBERRA - Australia will back away from a free-trade agreement with the United States if Labor wins Saturday's election.

Instead, the nation's priority will be new World Trade Organisation agreements, the reinvigoration of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and a focus on agriculture.

Canberra will press ahead with the free-trade agreement with Singapore that is already under negotiation and will try for another with Thailand to help reduce Australia's large trade deficit with Bangkok.

New treaties - but falling short of free-trade agreements - will be pursued with China and Japan, a stronger emphasis will be placed on India and a framework agreement on trade will be negotiated with Brussels to boost Australia's access to the European Union.

Labor's trade policy makes no direct mention of transtasman relations, other than the common pursuit of lower tariffs and quotas in moves to link the Closer Economic Relations agreement with Asean's Asian free-trade area.

The policy signals a significant shift away from the direction Australia has taken under the Coalition Government and reflects growing concern at the elevation of a free-trade deal with Washington as the Coalition's main trade thrust.

The Howard Government's highest trade priority is now a bilateral free-trade agreement with the US, despite agricultural subsidies and domestic supports not being part of any bilateral agreement, the policy says.

Labor regards the key aim of Australia-US trade negotiations as the promotion of cross-flows in communication and other high-technology sectors and to ease regulatory and tax problems.

It is also concerned that any deals struck with Washington could affect other international relationships and Australia's WTO interests.



Labor's concern is what it regards as Australia's declining commitment to the multilateral trading system when exports are supported only by a weak Australian dollar.



Labor says Australia's most urgent priority is the WTO.

Diplomatic posts in Geneva and major trading nations would be boosted, and extra resources provided for its negotiators if a new WTO round is launched at Dohar, Qatar, this month.

Failing that, Australian diplomats will push for the launch of a new round next year as the nation's highest trade priority. The key issue will be agriculture.

A taskforce will be set up, with one of its first priorities the development of strategies to reduce farm subsidies in Europe, the US and North Asia.