Dear Members,
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Australia’s Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb AO MP, has announced that the China – Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) will come into force shortly with the first round of tariff cuts to begin on December 20 and a second round on January 1 2016.
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AustCham Chair Tracy Colgan has welcomed the news by saying “we had anticipated that the ‘exchange of notes’ would happen very soon and implementation shortly thereafter. However, to see it become a reality is a great early Christmas present and the second round of tariff reductions on Jan 1 is just the way to start the new year for Australian Business.”
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Key facts from the announcement:
· First Round of cuts – 20th December, 2015
· Second Round – 1st January, 2016
· From 1st January 2016 – 86% of goods exports to China (worth more than AUD86 billion in 2014) will enter tariff free and 96% when ChAFTA is fully implemented
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For more information please go to: http://dfat.gov.au/trade/agreements/chafta/pages/australia-china-fta.aspx
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For the full press release: http://trademinister.gov.au/releases/Pages/2015/ar_mr_151209.aspx