PRIME Minister Tony Abbott and Chinese President Xi Jinping have this afternoon signed a memorandum of understanding on an Australia-China free trade deal. Trade Minister Andrew Robb and Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng then signed a ''Declaration of Intent'' after substantive negotiations over the agreement concluded earlier today. The documents will now be prepared in both languages before the deal is set in stone. A number of Tasmania's key export industries stand to benefit from the impending tariff reductions. The deal will see 85 per cent of all Australian exports enter China tariff-free. This number will rise to 93 per cent within four years, before rising to 95 per cent when the deal is fully implemented in a little over a decade. HORTICULTURE (fruit, vegetables, nuts) Current tariff: Between 10 and 30 per cent Time frame: Phased out over four years DAIRY Current tariff: Between 10 and 20 per cent Time frame: Phased out over four to 11 years BEEF Current tariff: Between 12 and 25 per cent Time frame: Phased out over nine years WINE Current tariff: Between 14 and 30 per cent Time frame: Phased out over four years SEAFOOD Current tariff: Between 10 and 15 per cent Time frame: Phased out over four years SKINS, HIDES AND LEATHER Current tariff: Between 5 and 14 per cent Time frame: Phased out over two to seven years ALUMINIUM OXIDE (ALUMINA) Current tariff: 8 per cent Time frame: To be abolished immediately NICKEL Current tariff: 3 per cent Time frame: To be abolished immediately
Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Chinese President Xi Xinping meet at Canberra. Picture: Getty Images
PRIME Minister Tony Abbott and Chinese President Xi Jinping have this afternoon signed a memorandum of understanding on an Australia-China free trade deal.
Trade Minister Andrew Robb and Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng then signed a ''Declaration of Intent'' after substantive negotiations over the agreement concluded earlier today.
The documents will now be prepared in both languages before the deal is set in stone.
A number of Tasmania's key export industries stand to benefit from the impending tariff reductions.
The deal will see 85 per cent of all Australian exports enter China tariff-free.
This number will rise to 93 per cent within four years, before rising to 95 per cent when the deal is fully implemented in a little over a decade.
SNAPSHOT: THE INDUSTRIES, EXISTING TARIFFS AND TIME FRAMES FOR ABOLITION
