Such bilateral trade agreements produce little economic benefit — and certainly nothing like the absurd claims made for them by politicians.
Australia’s trade agreement with China — it’s not a free trade agreement (FTA), despite Coalition claims to the contrary — was borne of Tony Abbott’s desperation to appear to have an economic policy.
Having been elected on the basis of all the things he’d stop — boats, climate action, deficits — he turned to “free trade agreements” with a number of regional countries as a facade of a positive economic policy.
Such bilateral trade agreements produce little economic benefit, as the Productivity Commission (PC) has long pointed out — and certainly nothing like the absurd claims made for them by politicians.
Read more about Australia’s useless China trade deal.
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