- Jul 2, 2018
- 3,734
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MINISTER FOR TRADE |
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: SECRET |
| 5 April 2009 |
| Dear United States Trade Representative, It has been the long-held ambition of both the Australian Government and previous United States administrations that Australia and United States formally conclude negotiations to and sign off on a preferential trade agreement. This would make Australia the third such nation after the United Kingdom and Turkey to sign an agreement with the United States and vice versa would make the United States, depending on the timing of the signing, only the second to sign an agreement with Australia after New Zealand. We have a draft agreement and I would like to personally bring it to Washington to discuss with yourself whether or not it is sufficient, and if agreed upon by the parties, move forward to signing. We understand the concerns of the current administration and we have worked in a way that we believe would satisfy the administration by protecting key industries and allowing for the gradual reduction of tariffs. Australia, for the forseeable future, will be one of the few nations on earth to actually have a trade deficit with the United States, even under this proposed agreement. If you are willing, I would like to move forward with a meeting in Washington D.C., the first meeting of its kind between our nations where the sole focus would be the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement. Yours sincerely, Penny Wong. |
Parliament House, CANBERRA, ACT 2600 Telephone: (02) 6277 7700 |
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Odinson
