Global Trade Watch – US FTA in the Media

The Australia-US Free Trade Agreement in the Media 2003

24 Decmber, 2003, Online Opinion, “Giving up quotas for a US-Australian FTA would be music to my ears.” By Con Frantzeskos

The fear and loathing which has poured from the creative industries about the upcoming Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US is an ill-informed and ill-performed stage show. The creative industries have got to be less outraged and more aware of what the FTA truly means, as they stand to benefit from such a change in our terms of trade.Read the full text here.

December 23, 2003, ABC News, "US beef association may oppose Australia free trade deal"

United States beef producers will attempt to block the proposed free trade deal with Australia, unless they get greater access to markets around the world. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association says it will use its considerable political support in the US Senate to stop any trade agreement, which gives Australian beef exporters more access to the US market. Read the full text here.

December 20, The Age, "Local Drama", By Guy Rundle

To trade away one's social and economic "plant" is not only to expose oneself to what the world will pay for labour, it is in a sense to give up the idea of a grounded community - one in which the economy is subordinated to social goals - altogether. Whether in the field of manufacturing, media or mutton, we will learn sooner or later, more or less painfully, that there is no such thing as a free trade. Read the full text here.

December 13-19, 2003 NZ Listener, "Culture vultures" by Gordon Campbell

To the Australian film and television industry, the free-trade agreement being hammered out between Australia and the US is about as welcome as a dingo in a nursery. On the podium at the recent Screen Producers Association conference in Melbourne, actor Toni Collette shed tears about the impact the pact could have on Australia's cultural output and identity. Read the full text here.

December 19, 2003, The Age, “ALP concerned for farmers over FTA”

Australian farmers would be shortchanged by a free trade deal with the United States if it followed the lead of similar agreement with Central America, Labor said. Opposition trade spokesman Stephen Conroy said details of the US-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) showed America was keen to delay open access to its key farm markets. Read the full text here.

December 17, 2003, NZ Herald, "Debris warning from free trade explosion" By Greg Ansley

As the negotiations for a free trade agreement between Australia and the United States extend beyond their Christmas deadline, the case for preferential pacts is increasingly coming under attack. The International Monetary Fund recently warned that an Australia-US deal would damage - rather than benefit - the Australian economy because it would divert trade away from other major markets in Japan, Europe and Asia. Read the full text here.

December 8, 2003, The Age, "Trade talks end but no deal yet" By Tim Colebatch

United States and Australian negotiators have forecast that they will wrap up the controversial free trade agreement between the two countries by the end of next month, after a week of intensive talks in Washington failed to resolve their differences on a swag of issues. The talks will miss the deadline set by US President George Bush and Prime Minister John Howard for agreement by the end of the year. Mr Vaile last week warned Australian farmers they would have to drop their demands for rapid abolition of US farm tariffs, in the interests of getting an agreement in Australia's overall interest. Read the full text here.

December 8, 2003, Australian Financial Review, "Sugar Demands Sour Free Trade Talks", By Tony Walker Washington With Mark Davis

Powerful United States farm-state senators have stepped up their demands that sugar be removed from free-trade negotiations, in a sign of looming difficulties in persuading US Congress to approve a US-Australia free-trade agreement. The move will raise concerns in Canberra that even if the Australian government and the US successfully conclude a deal to free up trade between the two countries, the Bush administration will still face resistance from powerful domestic agricultural interest groups. Read the full text here.

December 8, 2003, Australian Financial Review, "Mickey Mouse Holds Key To The Future", by Mark Davis

Trade Minister Mark Vaile calls it the Mickey Mouse clause. It's part of a push by the United States in free-trade negotiations to import tough new American intellectual property rules into Australian law. Overshadowed by issues in the free-trade agreement debate like agriculture and local content rules, the US push on intellectual property has significant implications for industries including film production, publishing and music recording. Read the full text here.

December 4, 2003, Canberra Times, “FTA Bushwhack Threatens Fifty Years of Equity in Australian Health”, By Dr Thomas Faunce

If this Federal Government is bushwhacked into signing an FTA with the US, it will be renouncing indefinitely the sovereign rights of future Australian governments to improve by regulation the quality and equity of our public health system. Read the full text here.

December 3, 2003, Australian Financial Review, "Farm lobby heads FTA off at the pass", By Tony Walker

With little likelihood of the US boosting its negligible beef exports to Australia, there would be "no net benefit" to US cattle farmers of a free-trade agreement that increases Australia's share of the US market. Indeed, Doud, representing the world's biggest cattle industry, would contend there is only downside. In this judgement he is far from alone among US agricultural producers' representatives, who are lining up against a US-Australia FTA as what are hoped will be final negotiations get under way in Washington. Read the full text here.

December 1, 2003, The Herald Sun, "Rush to free-for-all", by PAUL GRAY

Under a Free Trade Agreement with the US, State and federal governments -- the elected representatives of the people -- could be intimidated and sued for billions of dollars by foreign investors objecting to our laws because they interfere with "their" profits. It's not the US Government that's the big risk here. It's private companies which owe no allegiance to any nation or state, using the legal loopholes in formal free trade treaties to challenge a government's right to make laws as it sees fit. Read the full text here.

December 1, 2003, Australian Financial Review, "FTA 'suicide' For Local Car Industry", By Ben Schneiders

A free-trade deal between Australia and the US that cut automotive tariffs quickly would be "suicide" for the local industry, says Ken Asano , the chief executive of Toyota Australia. With the final round of talks starting in Washington today, the US has offered Australian negotiators a cut to zero automotive tariffs in both markets from the start of any free-trade agreement. Read the full text here.

December 1, 2003, The Age, "US groups warn of agreement pitfalls" By Josh Gordon

Six American conservation groups have warned that a free trade deal with the United States could compromise Australia's ability to protect its environment from global business interests. In a letter sent to Trade Minister Mark Vaile, the six US groups, including Friends of the Earth, the National Wildlife Federation and the Sierra Club, warned that the agreement could contain investment rules allowing US corporations to challenge Australia's environmental laws and demand compensation, and vice-versa. Read the full text here.

December 1, 2003, The Herald-Sun, "Back to table on free trade deal"

AUSTRALIAN and American negotiators today begin the final round of talks for a free trade deal, with several key sticking points set to dominate. The US is set to unveil its demands for changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, which the Federal Government has already said will not be fundamentally altered. There will also be debate over a US push for changes to quotas on local content in film, TV and radio. But Australia will be pushing hard for major improvements in access to America's dairy, beef and sugar markets, as well as in other farm commodities. Environmental groups have raised concerns the deal may hurt Australia's environmental practices. Read the full text here.

December 1, 2003, The Age, "Arts has good access to US: Vaile"

The Australian film and television industry already had good access into the United States and a trade deal was aimed at helping farmers gain the same access, Trade Minister Mark Vaile said. Mr Vaile said a trade deal with America would also prove a bonus to Australian car part manufacturers, particularly those in regional areas. Australia's film and television industry has raised concerns it will be used as a bargaining chip by the federal government to gain improved access for farmers to key American agricultural markets. Read the full text here.

December 1, 2003, The Age "US trade deal talks near endgame"

Australian and American negotiators begin the final round of talks for a free trade deal with several key sticking points set to dominate. America is set to unveil its demands for changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) which the federal government has already said will not be fundamentally altered in any deal. There will also be debate over America's push for changes to quotas on local content in film, television and radio and on future media. But Australia will be pushing hard for its key demands in agriculture. Read the full text here.

December 1, 2003, Taipei Times, "Australia admits that trade pact with US is `uphill battle'"

Australia admitted yesterday that finalising a free trade deal with the US by Christmas would be an uphill battle as negotiations reach crunch time on a number of politically-sensitive issues. With the final round of talks on the deal scheduled to open in Washington Monday, Australia's ambassador in Washington Michael Thawley said he was not underestimating the task ahead. "It's achievable, but it's going to be very difficult," he told ABC radio. Read the full text here.

November 30, 2003, The Age, "Final round of FTA talks set to start"

Australian and American negotiators begin the final round of talks for a free trade deal tomorrow with several key sticking points set to dominate. America is set to unveil its demands for changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) which the federal government has already said will not be fundamentally altered in any deal. There will also be debate over America's push for changes to quotas on local content in film, television and radio and on future media. But Australia will be pushing hard for its key demands in agriculture. Read the full text here.

November 27, 2003, New York Times, "Drug Industry Seeks to Sway Prices Overseas"

Having beaten back price controls on prescription drugs in the United States, the American pharmaceutical industry is trying to roll them back overseas, with help from the administration and Congress. In talks over a free trade agreement with Australia, American officials are pressing to water down the system under which the Australian government negotiates the prices it pays for prescription drugs, Mark Vaile, the Australian minister for trade, said here Wednesday. Read the full text here.

November 27 2003, The Age, "Long wait in store for sweet taste of US free trade pact", By Marian Wilkinson

A leading figure in the US sugar industry has warned that Australia is unlikely to get a free trade agreement through the US Congress until after the presidential elections in 2004. "Frankly, I don't see any agreement being voted on before the election next year," said Luther Markwart, who next year becomes chairman of the US National Sugar Alliance and who sits on an agricultural committee advising US Trade Representative Bob Zoellick and Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman. Read the full text here.

November 27, 2003, The Age, "Vaile to end trade talks in US"

Trade Minister Mark Vaile will finish a round of talks with US lawmakers about a proposed free trade deal between Australia and the United States. The talks come ahead of a final round of negotiations over the free trade agreement (FTA) which both countries want signed off by year's end. But back in Australia, the first open attack by one industry against another has renewed focus on the proposed deal and the lengths the federal government will go to get the deal. The Sugar Industry Revival Campaign accused the film and television sector of claiming a monopoly on Australian culture by demanding the industry be excluded from the FTA. Read the full text here.

November 26, 2003, The Age, "US stands firm on AWB monopoly" By Marian Wilkinson

US trade negotiators are insisting that AWB give up its wheat export monopoly if the Federal Government wants to win concessions for Australian sugar, beef and dairy products in final talks on a free trade agreement. A US wheat exporters representative said she was confident that US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and his team would not drop the demand, which is critical to the US wheat industry. Read the full text here.

November 25, 2003, The Age, "No Aussie shows to Hollywood: ALP"

Australia would end up exporting its Hollywood and television stars but get nothing in return under a free trade deal with America, Labor said. Opposition communications spokesman Lindsay Tanner said the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) would only further Americanise Australia. He also accused the Nationals of living in the days of the Waltons by believing the FTA would have no impact on Australia's cultural interests. Read the full text here.

November 25, 2003, Online Opinion, "Copyright protection 70 years after death does not encourage creativity", By Emma Caine, Andrew Christie and Peter Eckersley

As part of its Free Trade Agreement with Australia, the US wants Australia to extend its duration of copyright retrospectively, to match the period of protection provided in the US where copyright expires 70 years after the death of the author. In Australia, the duration of copyright is already a very generous life of the author plus 50 years. The US has already obtained similar agreements from Singapore and Chile. Read the full text here.

November 24, 2003, The Age, "In defence of Australian stories" By Davd Williamson

If we allow this Government to trade away what small protection Australian storytelling now enjoys in order to give us the extra 50 cents a week a totally unfettered trade agreement with the US might bring, then I think we're striking a very bad bargain indeed. Read the full text here.

November 23, 2003, ABC Radio National, The National Interest, "Copyright: Life Plus 70?"

US negotiators are pushing Australia to extend copyright protection as part of a free trade deal. Currently, copyright in Australia last for fifty years after the death of an artist, but the US says this should be extended to life plus 70 years. So what would we be giving away? Listen to the program here (requires Real Player).

November 23, 2003, The Sun-Herald, "Politics on the red carpet", By Christine Sams

At the Australian Film Industry Awards, the ambitions of the young stars were a far cry from the political rhetoric generated by their veteran colleagues, as Australia's leading movie stars begged the Prime Minister John Howard to heed concerns about content rules in negotiations with the US on a free trade agreement. Read the full text here.

November 22, 2003, Sydney Morning Herald, "PM signals local content will be traded for farm deal", By Tom Allard and Garry Maddox

The end-of-year deadline for negotiations on a free trade agreement with the United States looks increasingly precarious, and contingency plans have been laid for more talks in January. The development came as the Prime Minister, John Howard, prepared to offer concessions in exchange for a large-scale liberalisation of US agriculture trade barriers. His remarks add weight to concerns that local content rules for new media will be traded away and that US drug companies will be granted more expensive medicines and changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. A spokesman for the Trade Minister, Mark Vaile, remained confident that the talks would conclude before year's end, but conceded hotel rooms had been booked and plans laid for further talks in January. Read the full text here.

November 22, 2003, The Age, "Actors plead for local content", By David Rood

Academy Award-winning Australian actor Geoffrey Rush yesterday denounced Federal Government moves to use local content regulation as a bartering tool in free trade agreement negotiations with the United States. At a media conference of Australian actors, producers, writers and directors, Rush said an end to government-controlled local content would deny opportunities to a new generation of Australian actors."The next generation of Nicoles, Russells, Bazs, Cates and, I dare say, Geoffreys may not make it as far as Warriewood let alone Hollywood, if our government gives up on them," he said. Read the full text here.

November 22, 2003, The Age, "Crean attacks FTA"

The federal government must include an exclusion clause in a free trade deal with the US to protect Australia's film and television industry, Opposition Leader Simon Crean said. "I want a prime minister in this country that actually sticks up for our industry and doesn't roll over to the Americans," Mr Crean said in Melbourne before the Australian Film Institute (AFI) awards. Read the full text here.

November 21, 2003, Australian Policy Online "Too much intellectual property law can damage your health", By Mike Willis

WHEN the new Health Minister Tony Abbott was recently quoted as proclaiming that the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme would not be a bargaining chip in the Australia–US FTA negotiations on the basis it was clearly not a trade instrument, he was indulging in wishful thinking. Read the full text here.

November 21, 2003, The Age, "Trade fight hangs over AFI night" By Gabriella Coslovich

They should be gearing up for their biggest celebration of the year - tonight's Australian Film Industry awards - but instead of lining up for photo opportunities in their red carpet best, the country's filmmakers are rallying against the Federal Government's moves to use culture as a bargaining chip in free trade talks with the United States. Filmmakers say their worst fears were borne out yesterday at a meeting with Federal Government officials, where it was confirmed that local content regulations for TV and new media will be traded-off and used to extract concessions in the free trade agreement. Read the full text here.

November 21, 2003, The Age, Editorial: "Australia must make its own films and TV"

Australian audiences are hardly underexposed to American films and television programs, which already dominate the local market and which are produced by an industry whose unmatched buying power regularly siphons off the best Australian talent. The survival of a local film and television industry, a cultural asset that cannot be valued only in dollar terms, depends on the retention of local-content regulations. No government that cares about the survival of a uniquely Australian voice in film and television should barter them away. Read the full text here.

November 21, 2003, ABC Radio News, "Film, TV industry concerned over free trade talks"

Prime Minister John Howard has indicated the Federal Government may be willing to negotiate over Australia's film and television content laws to secure a free trade agreement with the United States. Mr Howard says Australia is unwilling to give up the local content requirements for existing media, but may consider changes in the future. He has told Southern Cross radio Australia needs to offer concessions to the United States to secure a good deal on agriculture. Read the full transcript here.

November 21, 2003 AAP, "US-Aust FTA will be rejected unless big on agriculture: PM"

Australia will reject a free trade agreement with the United States if America failed to agree to big concessions on agriculture, Prime Minister John Howard said today. "It stands to reason that if we can't get something quite big on agriculture then we won't have a free trade agreement, we won't," he told radio 3AW. Read the full text here.

November 20, 2003, The Age, "Regulate or perish: the message from filmmakers", By Gabriella Coslovich

Australia's film and television producers yesterday stepped up their campaign urging the Federal Government not to sacrifice the industry and use it as a bargaining chip in free-trade negotiations with the United States. The spectre of the Federal Government failing to regulate for Australian content in the new digital age was the key issue raised at yesterday's launch of the annual Screen Producers of Australia Association conference. "We must not allow Australia's cultural identity or our technological future to be negotiated away or compromised along with wheat and lamb chops," association president Stephen Smith said in his opening address. Read the full text here.

November 20, 2003, The Age, "Guru says beware free trade with US" By Gabriella Coslovich

American writer, educator and internet guru Mark Pesce yesterday painted a dismal picture of the future for Australian film and television producers. Looking at US-Australian free-trade agreement, Pesce said "Under the guise of protecting free trade, my Government is asking Australia to become little more than a passive receptacle of entertainment content produced in a foreign nation. This, in my own opinion, is economic warfare of the most pernicious sort," he said. "America will only be satisfied with an Australia that has become an obedient media colony, a slave. And why? It's not because they value a market that's only the size of Southern California - they could write that off with a laugh." Read the full text here.

November 19, 2003, Australian Policy Online, "America’s pie", By Jock Given

TRADE agreements are the constitutions of the global economy. They set the limits on what nation-states can and can’t do. It will be about as easy to change the words of the Australia–US Free Trade Agreement as it is to change those in our own Constitution. The first Australian Constitution was an Act of the British Parliament, passed when Brittannia ruled the waves and pretty much everything else. The next Australian constitution might be the proposed free trade agreement with the world’s current strategic, economic and cultural superpower, the United States. This might be what post-colonialism feels like. Read the full text here.

November 18, 2003, Australian Financial Review, "Trade Talks Enter Final Round", By Rowan Callick

Agriculture is the biggest remaining sticking point between Australia and the United States as their negotiators are summoned from their corners by the bell for the last round in the struggle for a free-trade agreement by year's end. Speaking at a recent Australian-American Association forum in Melbourne, Australia's chief negotiator, Stephen Deady, said the matters under negotiation with the US covered 80 per cent of the Australian economy. But unlike World Trade Organisation agreements, which listed the areas to be opened up, the USFTA would contain a negative list of matters not included. Read the full text here.

November 17, 2003, Australian Financial Review, "IMF Marks Down US Free - Trade Deal", By Mark Davis

As negotiations for a free-trade deal with the United States move into their final stages, research by the International Monetary Fund has concluded that such an agreement would be a negative for the Australian economy. Economic modelling by IMF researchers showed that a free-trade deal with the US would shrink Australia's gross domestic product marginally because of the loss of trade with Japan, other Asian countries and Europe. Read the full text here.

November 11, 2003, Sydney Morning Herald, "Free trade at a price" By Nathan Cochrane

Librarians warn a free trade deal with the US may result in a massive transfer of wealth from the Australian public and performers to US monopoly copyright holders. Negotiations for the US Free Trade Agreement, scheduled to be completed by year's end, may result in a tenfold increase in licence fees for Australians performing original works by US artists, if overseas experience is a guide. Read the full text here.

November 11, 2003, ABC Radio National, Perspesctive, "The Big Chill" By Anne O'Rourke

The Free Trade Agreement raises the issue of where to draw the line between private rights versus the public interest. Under trade agreements every value, human rights, workers rights and environmental standards, are subordinated to economic values. We need to voice our concerns about the adulation of one set of values above all others before we find ourselves embedded in a social and cultural system like the US, where the only value is the value of a dollar. Read the full transcript here.

November 8, 2003, Sydney Morning Herald, "Reg the dog might be happy, but we're trading in our culture", By Guy Rundle

Like a fight between a drunken couple beneath your window at 3am, the US-Australia free trade agreement is something you desperately want to just go away. As I understand it, the world's largest economy, with most of its largest corporations, will get free and unfettered access to our markets, and the world's 40th or so largest economy (that's us) - whose locally owned corporations now consist entirely and solely of the management company responsible for licensing Puppetry of the Penis - will get free and unfettered access to a market which has dealt with the problem of wages cost by increasingly drawing on the services of a casual employment provider known as Mexico. Read the full text here.

November 6, 2003, Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka), "'Free Trade' deals could be a costly business for smaller nations" By Quintin Fernando

Last week, an unlikely coalition of protesters gathered in Australia's capitol Canberra. As the negotiators of Australia and the US were meeting at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to work out details of a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries, farmers, trade unionists, some Members of Parliament from both sides of politics, representatives from welfare organisations and small businesses demonstrated against a deal that is expected to be signed before the end of the year. Not many Australians believe that a bilateral agreement will be of much benefit to Australia. On the contrary, they fear that in view of the mateship that has developed between John Howard and George Bush, Australia's interests will be sold cheaply. Read the full text here.

November 6, 2003, ABC Radio National, The Media Report, "Free Trade or Flood Tide?"

Australian and American negotiators are currently hammering out the fine details of a Free Trade Agreement between the two countries. But what does the agreement mean for Australian culture and the media? And why is the Australian Film Commission warning that it could be disastrous for local film production here? Read the full transcript here.

November 3, 2003, The Age, "A free trade pact will hurt our environment", By Kenneth Davidson

Nothing has been written about the environmental impacts of the proposed Australia-US Free Trade Agreement. So what, you ask. The agreement is about selling more sugar and more dairy products in the US and whether these potential gains are worth trading off the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme or the local content rules for TV and assistance for the Australian film industry. Not so. The newly established, non-partisan, Melbourne-based think tank, OzProspect, (funded by the Myer Foundation, Foundation for Young Australians and the Vizard Foundation) has commissioned a report on the environmental consequences of an AUSFTA that suggests the negotiations should be shelved. Read the full text here.

November 1 2003, The Age, "Free-trade talks on track for deadline", By Tim Colebatch

Trade Minister Mark Vaile will begin working out a deal with his United States counterpart Robert Zoellick next week after US and Australian free-trade negotiators said yesterday they had isolated the sensitive issues needing political decisions. After a week of detailed negotiations in Canberra, chief negotiators Steven Deady, of Australia, and Ralph Ives, of the US, said they had made good progress and were on track to complete an agreement by the deadline of December 31. But they added that none of the tough issues had yet been resolved and it would be up to the ministers to negotiate the final trade-offs. Other than agriculture, they refused to specify the issues to be resolved. Read the full text here.

31 October, 2003, Herald Sun, "Free trade alarm between America and Australia" By Mark Phillips

A FREE trade agreement with the US could see foreign companies suing the Australian Government for loss of profits from domestic laws and programs, according to new research. A report to be released today by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace and Liberty Victoria says there has been an explosion of litigation against governments under the North American FTA. Private companies have won tens of millions of dollars in compensation after suing the US, Canadian and Mexican governments over domestic social and environmental laws. Anne O'Rourke, of Liberty Victoria, said claims by companies against governments had run to more than $38 billion since the NAFTA was signed in 1992. Read the full text here.

31 October 2003, The Australian, “Free drugs trade: say no”, By Christine Wallace

"They behave like the tobacco companies," says one critic of the giant American and European pharmaceutical companies. "And they're making a quite immoral profit." The critic isn't the doyen of a left-wing think-tank either but a former Liberal cabinet minister. His comments were triggered this week by observing the vice in which Australia's unique pharmaceutical benefits scheme is being squeezed. It is being pressed on one side by global drug companies wanting PBS changes to boost their profits, and on the other by a federal Government desperate to rein in its escalating cost. Read the full text here.

October 31, 2003, NZoom.com, "US free trade has a cost"

The United States has asked Australia to jump in the latest round of free trade agreement negotiations. Now it's a matter of how high Australia is prepared to go. Read the full text here.

October 29, 2003, ABC TV, 7:30 Report, "Pressure for PBS to not be included in free trade agreement", Reporter: Michael Brissenden.

For a free trade agreement that American President George W Bush has put his weight behind to be ready for signatures by Christmas, the deal between the US and Australia still has some significant hurdles to overcome. As officials continue their latest round of intense negotiations in Canberra this week, there's a strong sense that progress is not matching the President's rhetoric. The biggest hurdle from the Australian perspective is, of course, the notorious protection of America's farm belt.But the Americans are looking for some quid pro quos including, potentially Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, which subsidises prescription drugs that would otherwise be out of reach for many Australian consumers. Read the full transcript here.

October 27 2003, Sydney Morning Herald, "Free-trade clause would be a dangerous weakening of the law", By Don Henry

Early indications from the secret trade negotiations suggest the Australia-US FTA is set to include an investment chapter based on the infamous Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). An Australian-US FTA incorporating a NAFTA-style investment chapter will provide US corporations with unprecedented rights to seek millions, or possibly billions, of dollars in compensation should Australian laws breach FTA rules protecting their investments. Ordinarily, only government parties to an international agreement have the right to enforce the agreement, but US corporations may soon have the right to sue Australian governments directly. Read the full text here.

October 27, 2003, The Age, "Canberra hopes high for US free trade deal, By Mark Forbes

There is a better-than-even chance of reaching a free trade agreement this year with the United States, according to Howard Government ministers, who have ruled out using the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme as a bargaining chip in negotiations this week. Trade Minister Mark Vaile yesterday also signalled that foreign investment restrictions would be eased as part of any agreement, following promising signals on trade deals during the visits of US President George Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao last week. Health Minister Tony Abbott said "the PBS will not be a bargaining chip in these negotiations". It was not a trade instrument, but ensured Australians got reasonable access to affordable drugs, he said. Read the full text here.

October 27, 2003, The Age, "Will a US free trade agreement be good for us?" By Kenneth Davidson

When push comes to shove, the Bush Administration is more likely to push the interests of its friends in the drugs business rather than negotiate a deal that protects the status quo - no matter how good it is for the public interest. Read the full text here.

October 27, 2003, The Australian, Editorial: "Crunch time on free trade with the US"

With negotiators meeting in Canberra today for a third round of talks, crunch time has arrived for the free trade agreement between Australia and the US. While last week's open-ended trade "framework" with China was well and good, the US deal is here and now – tantalisingly within reach, but well capable of slipping from our grasp if negotiations stagger into the new year and both countries switch to election mode. If we lose this opportunity to put our economy fully in sync with the world's largest, already our second-biggest export market, we'll be kicking ourselves for years. Read the full text here.

October 24, 2003, "Bush wants end to medicine subsidies" By Tim Colebatch

President George Bush has put the future of Australia's cheap pharmaceuticals in question, telling Prime Minister John Howard that raising their prices is a key goal for United States negotiators in any free trade deal. A senior Australian official said President Bush singled out changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme as an area where he is under heavy political pressure to deliver benefits to domestic constituencies. The US pharmaceutical industry outspent even the oil industry to be the biggest financier of Republican candidates at last year's Congressional elections. Read the full text here.

October 24, 2003, Online Opinion, "Free speech vs free trade - Why can't Australians be honest about the FTA?" By Elizabeth Thurbon and Linda Weiss

There are certainly opportunities to be seized under the FTA. But the question that needs to be raised is whether - in the absence of a coordinated government-business strategy - they are likely to be seized overwhelmingly by US firms, not least by firms in financial services who are most anxious to break into the Australian market. And since for most people finance seems much more esoteric than trade, the impact of this massive change alone on the Australian community is likely to be more profoundly felt than widely understood. Isn't it time that we talked honestly about the FTA? Read the full text here.

24 October, 2003, The Australian, “Bid to rescue US trade deal” By Christine Wallace

George W.Bush has agreed to a proposal from John Howard to rescue the faltering Australia-US free trade deal. The Howard initiative, a response to repeated inadequate US offers on Australian farmers' access to US markets, will see Trade Minister Mark Vaile meet US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick to resolve differences and save the deal after the next round of negotiators' talks, scheduled for Canberra next week. Read the full text here.

October 22, 2003, The Age, "US names PBS, local content as trade issues", By Tim Colebatch

United States Trade Representative Robert Zoellick has confirmed that the US wants changes to Australia's pharmaceutical benefits scheme and freedom to set future local content rules on TV as part of the free trade agreement. At a media briefing in Bangkok, Mr Zoellick also listed Australia's foreign investment rules, quarantine restrictions and a range of market access issues as key issues to be resolved to get a trade deal, along with agriculture. His frank comments cut across earlier assurances from both sides that US negotiators are not targeting the pharmaceutical benefits scheme, which manufacturers from both countries have accused of driving prices of pharmaceuticals below reasonable levels. Read the full text here.

October 21, 2003, The Age, "Free trade could come at too high a price", By Tim Colebatch
As Jane Drake-Brockman, executive director of the Australian Services Roundtable, put it in a recent speech: "Unfortunately, the reality of bilateral negotiations is that the larger, more powerful nation tends to win, and the wins reflect the particular market access objectives of that nation, not necessary the most liberal outcome from a multilateral perspective... FTAs offer countries such as the United States a backdoor route to control of the negotiating agenda in Geneva." Read the full text here.

October 20, 2003, Sydney Morning Herald, "NZ fears trade deal will leave it out in the cold" By Matt Wade

There are growing fears across the Tasman that the New Zealand economy will be damaged if Australia and US reach a free trade deal by the end of the year. The trade negotiations between Australia and the US will be highlighted by President George Bush's visit to Canberra this week, drawing attention to New Zealand's exclusion from any deal.Political and business leaders in New Zealand say their exclusion from an Australia-US free-trade regime could force big New Zealand firms, such as whitegoods giant Fisher & Paykel, to shift manufacturing to Australia. Read the full text here.

October 20, 2003 Sydney Morning Herald, "US sugar lobby wary of trade deal"

The United States sugar industry lobby warned that a free trade agreement with Australia could be scuttled by domestic political imperatives. Jack Roney, director of economics and policy analysis at the American Sugar Alliance, which is lobbying hard to stop a free trade agreement, said US President George W Bush needed to keep key US agricultural states in the Republican camp. He said he doubted any free trade agreement between the US and Australia could be struck by Christmas. "It seems extremely unlikely because there are a number of very controversial issues that still need to be addressed," he said on ABC radio. Read the full text here.

October 20, 2003, Sydney Morning Herald, “Schieffer hopeful of FTA by end of year”

Negotiations between Australia and the United States on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) were entering a critical stage, US Ambassador Tom Schieffer said. Mr Schieffer said the US remained hopeful an FTA could be finalised by the end of the year, but the most difficult stages of the negotiations were now getting under way. Read the full text here.

20 October 2003, The Australian, "Bilateral treaties a 'dead end'" By Catherine Armitage

Australia is "marching into a dead end" by seeking free-trade deals with the US, China and Japan, and should use this week's visits by the presidents of the US and China to reverse course, Australia's pre-eminent trade economist has warned. The presidential visits were a unique opportunity to encourage "a major rethink" by both the US and China away from preferential trade deals and towards restoring the momentum of the multilateral trading system, said Ross Garnaut of Australian National University. Read the full text here.

17 October 2003, The Australian, "Free trade and cosy deals", By Michael Costello

What on earth are we doing supporting the so-called free trade agreement with the US? Even its name is a furphy. It is not a free trade agreement. It is a preferential agreement that discriminates against the rest of the world in favour of the two parties. Read the full text here.

October 15, 2003, The West Australian “Trade-offs Could Prove Too High a Price to Pay”, By Tony Cooke

Signing an FTA may be pulling the wool over everyone's eyes. The theory of free trade may have much going for it but has yet to be fully tested. The danger lies in accepting the theory because it is convenient to do so. And at this moment in global history, is Australia's interest served by shifting focus from Asia to the US? Read the full text here.

13 October 2003, The Australian, “Bush in push to seal trade deal” By Roy Eccleston

George W. Bush is expected to tell John Howard later this month that he has ordered his senior aides to "move heaven and earth" to negotiate a free trade agreement with Australia. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told The Australian that about a month ago the US President called together several top administration officials and "really put the heat on us to try to get it done". But the Howard Government says the US offer so far is totally inadequate on the key area of market access for Australian farm products such as beef, sugar and dairy. Read the full text here.

October 10, 2003 Australian Financial Review, "Free-trade crunch for Bush's visit", By Peter Hartcher

A group of US Congress members is pressing President George Bush to step up negotiations over a free-trade agreement with Australia during his visit in two weeks because of fears the proposed deal is being sidelined. The negotiations have entered a difficult phase and supporters worry they will run out of time with the approach of US federal elections late next year. Unless a completed deal is presented to Congress within a few months, the proposed FTA could be delayed for years or lost altogether as domestic politics dominate the US agenda. Read the full text here.

October 2, 2003, Asia Pulse, "US-Australia Fta Negotiations Face Being Pushed Back"

Negotiations between Australia and the United States for a free trade agreement (FTA) could be pushed back to ensure a comprehensive deal was made, a Senate committee heard today. Steven Deady, Australia's lead negotiator for the FTA, said getting the right agreement was more important than signing off on a deal too quickly. Read the full text here.

October 2, 2003, Asia Pulse, "Australian Negotiator Seeks to Sell to US Govt Agencies"

Australia's chief negotiator in the FTA, Steven Deady, has told a Senate committee he was trying to enable Australian businesses to sell to American government agencies. Mr Deady said agriculture would be a key sticking point between the two countries. But he revealed Australia's ambitions for the FTA were higher, with the Buy America Act - which effectively prevents overseas companies from supplying US agencies - in his sights. Read the full text here.

September 20, 2003, Australin Financial Review, "US Trade Deal Not Yet Watertight", By Brian Toohey

Where's the water coming from? This is the question nobody in government bothers to ask about the much-vaunted boost to agriculture production from a free-trade agreement with the United States. Read the full text here.

September 17, 2003 , Australian Financial Review, “American Farmers Unhappy With FTA”, by Mark Davis

United States farmers have little to gain from a free-trade agreement with Australia and will insist that any cuts to tariffs on sensitive agricultural products be introduced over long periods, according to the head of the main US farm group. President of the American Farm Bureau Federation, Bob Stallman, who was in Cancun, Mexico, for the World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting, said there was a lot of sensitivity among US farmers about the negotiations for a free-trade deal with Australia. Read the full text here.

September 15, 2003, Dow Jones, “US Eyes Bilateral/Regional Pacts To Free Trade - Official”

The U.S. plans to use bilateral and regional free-trade agreements to further its global trade liberalization agenda, Michael Delaney, economic counselor at the U.S. mission in Australia. Speaking after the Doha Round World Trade Organization talks collapsed over the weekend in Cancun, Mexico, Delaney said the U.S. aims to liberalize trade through a series of ambitious regional and bilateral agreements, such as the one it now is negotiating with Australia. Read the full text here.

September 14, 2003, GTV9, Sunday, Interview with Trade Minister Mark Vaile, By Laurie Oakes

Trade Minister Mark Vaile admits that Australia has no intention of demanding through the FTA that the US reduce the hundreds of billions it pays its farmers, conceding that “bilaterally we’re [only] looking at tariffs and tariff rate quotas.” American farmers will thus get to keep their genrous domestic subsidies - worth hundreds of billions of dollars - under the agreement. Read the entire interview here.

September 14, 2003, Herald Sun, "FTA deal with US by Xmas: Vaile"

AMERICAN farmers had backed down on their opposition to a trade deal with Australia, opening the way for a pact to be signed by December, Trade Minister Mark Vaile said today. US farmers have been the biggest stumbling block to a US-Australia free trade agreement (FTA). But after meeting with US Farm Bureau head Bob Stallman in Mexico, Mr Vaile believes the impasse will be broken. He is now willing to predict the deal will be stitched up by the end of the year. Read the full text here.

September 14, 2003, AFP, “US, Australia closer to resolving free trade obstacles: trade minister”

Australia and the United States are making progress in resolving nagging agricultural issues, and a free trade deal between them by years' end was increasingly likely, the trade minister said. Australia's Mark Vaile said he had held positive talks with his US counterpart Bob Zoellick on the fringes of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) conference in Mexico this weekend. Read the full text here.

August 23, 2003, The Age, "Free trade leads to torrent of trouble", By David Elias

Bi-lateral Free Trade Agreements have lead to confused bureaucracies, lawsuits and secret rulings - should Australia worry about provisions which allow investors to sue governments for compensation over laws which they believe breach the trade agreement? Read the full text here.

August 18, 2003, The Australian, "ALP drops opposition to the agreement", By Christine Wallace and Stefanie Balogh

Labor is unlikely to oppose the proposed US-Australia free trade deal, raising the possibility of a rift between the ALP and the trade union movement. The informal policy shift within federal Labor emerged yesterday as the ACTU said it would actively lobby members of the US Congress to block any deal unless union concerns were addressed. Read the full text here.

August 18, 2003, The Australian, Editorial: "Labor rethink on FTA is welcome"

SIGNS are gathering that, economically, Labor is shaking itself out of its policy slumber - and free of special interests and the Left. Read the full text here.

August 11, 2003, Australian Financial Review, "Farmers in FTA revolt"

The federal government's plan to wrap up a free-trade agreement with the US by the end of the year is in trouble, as farmers have rejected America's initial offer. National Farmers Federation president Peter Corish, who has been briefed on the US offer, said it was still a long way short of what Australian farmers wanted from the FTA. Read the full text here.

August 2003, BRW Management Today,"Chinese Jitters", By Alan Griffiths.

By following the United States, Australia may pass up regional opportunities and end up in a power struggle between China and its allies and America. Read the full text here.

July 30, ABC Rural News: "Single desk could trouble free trade talks"

Australia's single desk marketing system for wheat could be one of the sticking points, during free trade negotiations between Australia and the United States. US Ambassador to Australia, Tom Schieffer says AWB's monopoly selling rights for wheat are not in the spirit of free trade. Read a summary here.

July 28 2003 Sydney Morning Herald, "Beware: economic spin doctors at work" By Ross Gittins

In the often acrimonious debate over the pros and cons of a free trade agreement with the United States, two Canberra consultancies have undertaken econometric modelling exercises that seem to show markedly conflicting findings on the likely effects. Read the full text here.

July 24 2003, ABC Rural News: "Free trade deal spells disaster for our beef industry"

A free trade agreement with the United States would be a disaster for the Australian beef industry, according to John Carter. Read a summary here.

July 23, 2003, Inter Press Service, "Australia: Opposition Mounts to Free Trade Deal with U.S.", By Bob Burton

The prospect of a free trade agreement between the United States and Australia, which would give corporations the right to sue governments over regulations and could reduce trade with Asia, is drawing opposition from free-trade supporters and community groups alike. Read the full text here.

July 23, 2003, AFP, "Australia-US trade pact may backfire"
Australia is jeopardizing its economic and security interests by pursuing a free trade deal with the US which will discriminate against its Asian trading partners, one of the nation's leading trade experts warned yesterday. Ross Garnaut, a former adviser to prime minister Bob Hawke's government and now an academic with the Canberra-based Australian National University, said there were also major flaws in officials' claims as to the value of the deal to Australia. Read the full text here.

July 22 2003, ABC Rural News: "Senate told free trade pursuit could risk vital markets"

A Senate Inquiry has been told Australia is risking vital export markets in Asia, by pursuing a free trade deal with the United States. Read a summary here.

July 20, 2003, Spinach7 Winter/Spring Edition, “The Free Trade Tango”, By Aren Z. Aizura

Although no one knows precisely what effects the FTA will have on Australian culture, hardly anyone thinks those effects can be good. For those who make culture in Australia, the FTA reasserts the question of ‘Australian national identity’; how does locally-produced culture feed this identity and what would happen if local ‘products’ were to vanish? Read the full text here.

July 18 2003, Sydney Morning Herald: "US trade deal may end in court", By John Garnaut and Caroline Overington

The template for an Australia-US free trade agreement allows American corporations to sue the Australian Government over laws they believe breach the trade deal. Read the full text here.

July 18, 2003, Herald Sun, "Free Trade Deal is Bad Medicine" By Jeremy Calvert

An independent study by the Australia Institute predicts a huge rise in drug prices if Australia caves in to powerful US drug manufacturers and scales back the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Popular prescription drugs could cost more than $120 a packet under a US free trade agreement.

July 18, 2003, Herald Sun, "US-Aus Free Trade Agreement threatens film industry".

Acclaimed Melbourne director Richard Lowenstein believes a free trade agreement with the US could sentence the Australian film industry to a slow death.

July 16 2003, ZNet, "All the way with FTA?" By Sean Healy

Australia plans to roll back social policies and give US corporations access to important government-run services in return for access to the US's lucrative agriculture markets. Read the full text here.

July 8, 2003, Australian Policy Online, “Getting a seat at the table”, by John Edwards

The US–Australian Free Trade Agreement will have almost indiscernible impact on Australian growth or US growth. But there are good reasons for signing up, says John Edwards. Read the full text here.

12 June, 2003, BBC, “Australia's media fears free trade” By Christian Mahne

The Australian film and television industry is dominating a free-trade agreement being struck between the US and Australia. Culture industry bodies fear a tidal wave of cheap imported television if the Free Trade Agreement restricts or weakens Australia's control over the quota and subsidy system. The Australian Film Commission (AFC) says anything less than retaining complete control leaves audiovisual culture at risk, as emerging broadband and digital networks (which have no quotas) become the primary means for delivering home entertainment. Read the full text here.

May 31, 2003, Australian Financial Review, "Free trade with the US: the downside", By John Quiggin

Should Australia sign a free-trade agreement with the United States? No, says John Quiggin, because it will mean accepting US terms on sensitive matters such as copyright and pharmaceuticals. Read the full text here.

May 25, 2003, On-Line Opinion "Free, fair or foolish? The Australian-US FTA: A Debate Betwee Doug Cameron and Alan Oxley"

An on-line debate about the pros and cons of the Aust-US FTA between Doug Cameron - National Secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union - and Alan Oxley - former ambassador to the General Agreement on Trades and Tariffs and Chairman of the Australian APEC Studies Centre. Read the full transcript here.

May 22, 2003, Human Resources Guide Australia, “Australia Is Not Including Employment Standards In U.S. Free Trade Negotiations”

The Catholic Commission for Justice Development and Peace is concerned that the Australian Government has failed to include labour rights and environmental protection in its negotiations with the US over a Free Trade Agreement. This is in contrast to the US position in the negotiations. Read the full text here.

May 20, 2003, ABC Radio National, The World Today, "Australia-US Free Trade Agreement warnings", Reporter: Tanya Nolan

It's a deal that the Prime Minister John Howard has been pushing strongly; but as the second round of negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the United States gets underway in Hawaii today, a coalition of 65 Australian community groups is not applauding. The Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network is launching a document which warns that far from benefiting Australians, a Free Trade Deal could be very bad news for Australian manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries, for our food labelling laws and for the media. Read the full program transcript here.

May 9, 2003, Sydney Morning Herald, Editorial: "Free trade: rhetoric and cold reality"

It will take more than a broad commiment by the United States President, George Bush, to secure a free trade agreement - especially one that suits Australia - with the world's largest economy. Read the full text here.

April 21, 2003, The West Australian, "Hidden Hazards in Trade Deal",

FEW developments will be as crucial to Australia’s cultural identity and economic success for the rest of this century as the negotiations that have begun over the drawing up of a free trade agreement with the United States. However, the proposed agreement has also drawn out detractors whose objections range from the effect it will have on our relationships with countries in our region, to fears that it will encourage American cultural imperialism and inierference in Australian social policy. Read the full text here.

March 17 2003 The Age, "Deal not linked to war, says Canberra" By Meaghan Shaw

The prospect of a free trade agreement with the United States was not related to Australia's support for the impending war in the Gulf, Australian Government and US officials said yesterday. Read the full text here.

March 17, 2003, ABC Radio National, PM: "Australia/US Free Trade Agreement", Reporter: Louise Yaxley

Despite the Prime Minister's denials, the Opposition is insisting that the proposed free trade deal with the United States is linked to the Government's support for a war against Iraq. Labor is against the deal; it says it'll mean Australians have to pay more for medicines, and they would not get free access to US markets in return. Read the full text here.

March 3, 2003, Australian Financial Review, "US drug firms push for changes to PBS", By Morgan Mellish

United States drug companies will push for sweeping changes to Australia's subsidised drugs scheme during the upcoming free trade talks. US manufacturers want the federal government to overhaul key parts of the $4.6 billion-a-year Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to ensure they receive higher returns on their investments. Read the full text here.

February 26, 2003, Sydney Morning Herald, "Free trade comes at a painful price", By John Garnaut.

One of the Federal Government's main policy objectives, a free trade agreement with the United States, could damage the interests of farmers and hurt Australia's broader economic interests, says an independent report. Read the full text here.

February-March 2003, Arena Magazine "Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement: Free Trade or Free Access for US Companies?" By Dr Susan Hawthorne

Australia, under the Howard government, seems intent on lying down for the US government. Not only is Howard heeling Bush in the likely war on Iraq, his government is also keen to open up the Australian economy to the point where Australian sovereignty is under threat. Read the full text here.

January 30, 2003, Australian Financial Review, "A deal not in our interest", By John Quiggin.

A free trade agreement with America will not be in Australia's interests. Far from removing trade barriers that harm us anyway, the US wants us to replace economically and socially sound policies with those dictated by the lobbying power of American interest groups. Read the full text here.

January 29, 2003, Green Left Weekly, “Pharmaceutical benefits threatened by ‘free trade’ agreement”, By Eva Cheng

Australia’s right to draw up or maintain non-profit-oriented social policies will be under threat from the “free trade” agreement (FTA) that the Coalition government seeks to make with President George Bush’s US administration. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), which for 53 years has allowed most Australians access to medicine at affordable prices, is particularly under threat. Read the full text here.

December 9, 2002, Sydney Morning Herald, "Free-trade agreement is Howard's ticking bomb", By Ross Gittins

John Howard is finishing the year clearing away the remnants of his former commitment to micro-economic reform. He has easier and more novel priorities these days. But I doubt if he realises that his remaining enthusiasm for a free-trade agreement with the US could blow up in his face in the coming year. It carries all the political angst of a micro reform without actually being one. Read the full text here.

November 14, 2002, CNN, “U.S., Australia agree to free trade talks” By Geoff Hiscock

Australia and the United States are to begin negotiations on a free trade agreement early next year, U.S. special trade representative Bob Zoellick confirmed Thursday. Read a full transcript here.

September 12 2002, The Age, "Warning on free trade pact", By Philip Hopkins

A free trade deal with the US could damage Australia's ties with its major East Asian trading partners, and undermine the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, as well as current world trade talks, a trade expert said yesterday. Read the full text here.

June 13, 2002, The Age, "Howard is sacrificing our interests", By Kenneth Davidson

This article explores the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement's broad implications for Australia, asking what, precisely, does Howard expect to gain for Australia out of an Australia-US free-trade agreement (AUSFTA)? Is there anything in the words or actions of Bush, his administration or the US Congress that suggests Washington would make any trading concessions to Australia that might hurt some domestic US interest? here.

June 1, 2002, Australian Financial Review, "US giants push for Australian trade pact", By Peter Hartcher

A coalition of major US corporations will lobby Congress to negotiate a free-trade agreement with Australia, in an important boost to the Howard Government's push to secure support for a ground breaking trade deal. Read the full text here.

August 11, 2001, News Weekly, "The companies driving US-Australia free trade agreement" by Pat Byrne

About 60 major US and Australian corporations and business organisations have formed the "America-Australia Free Trade Agreement Coalition" to promote the proposal. More than 100 are expected to eventually join this formidable pressure group. Eighteen of the US corporations are among the world's top 200 corporations with annual sales of $US1,327 billion, which is more than four times the annual out put of the entire Australian economy (about $US300 billion). The two largest of these corporations alone, General Motors and Exxon Mobil, are bigger than the Australian economy. The annual profits of these 18 corporations amount to over $US79 billion and they employ over three million workers altogether. Read the full text here.

2001, Policy Organisation & Society, Vol.20 No.1 2001, "An Australia-United-States Trade Agreement?", By Ann Capling

This academic journal article was one of the first to critically analyse the move from multilaterism to bilaterism under the Howard Government. Read the full text here.