How good is the US/Aussie free trade agreement?

[K.I.L.E.R]

I don't know the exact details of this agreement. I've mainly heard what was said by the media which is not enough IMO.

Does anyone know if it's a good idea or not for both countries?

 

[nutball]

There's no such thing as truly free trade. There are arrangement by which two parties will enter an agreement not to place unduly onerous import duties on each other whilst both parties think that they are getting the better deal out of the agreement. The moment one or the other thinks they're being taken for a mug it all fall apart and the punative import taxes are levied on (randomly) selected classes of goods.

So a Free Trade Agreement is more like a cease-fire in a trade war than anything to do with freedom.

I can't speak for US-Australia, but that's been my view of such agreements between US-Europe, and I can't see why Oz should be any different.

 

[Sabastian]

This would be more appropriate in the political forum. Free trade has really been a boost for the Canadian economy increasing overall trade substantially. Right now the US accounts for 80% of our exports. I don't know the details of the trade agreement between Australia and the US but it has been good for Canada. It allows for smaller companies to get access to the lucrative US economy. It most certainly does increase the freedom to trade but there are restrictions of which I am not fully aware of but so far I believe the benefits have far outweighed these.

 

[horvendile]

Does anyone know if it's a good idea or not for both countries?

I don't know what this particular agreement says, but free trade is usually beneficial for all participating countries.