Global tariff disruption is opportunity to lower trade barriers: Australian economist

Jakarta, July 8 (IANS) The global trade disruption driven by US tariffs is an opportunity for Australia to lower trade barriers, according to a leading economist.

Warwick McKibbin, director of the Center for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis at the Australian National University, said on Monday that Australia is in "probably the best position" of any country to handle the economic fallout of President Donald Trump's widespread tariffs.

He told the Australian Conference of Economists that Australia should be looking at Trump's plan to introduce further tariffs from August 1 as an opportunity to expand trade with other nations, reports Xinhua news agency.

"We should be doing trade negotiations. We should be lowering barriers which make trade harder," McKibbin said.

Following the announcement of Trump's first tariffs in April, Australia's federal government reopened negotiations with the European Union (EU) on a free trade agreement.

Talks previously broke down in 2023 when the two sides could not reach an agreement over access to Australian agricultural products in the EU market.

Australia's Minister for Trade and Tourism, Don Farrell, said in June that he is hopeful that countries that believe in free and fair trade can reach deals to extend free trade agreements to ensure a greater diversity of trading partners, irrespective of what the US "might choose to do."

An annual review of trade published on Tuesday by the Productivity Commission, the federal government's principal economic advisory body, found that removing Australia's remaining trade barriers could save businesses 4 billion Australian dollars (2.5 billion US dollars) in compliance costs every year.

"Removing Australia's remaining tariffs would maximise the benefits to Australian production from other countries imposing tariffs," it said.

It found that the global effects of US tariffs could drive a 0.37 per cent increase in Australia's gross domestic product but warned that the benefit would be minor compared to the costs associated with growing economic uncertainty.

--IANS

int/sd/