FTA Consultations with States and Territories

Question

Mr Jacenko: Also, coming back to what we discussed a little bit earlier this morning around what's happening globally with trade tensions, industrial policy and practices, this also shows the heightened focus, for example, in Europe, where they're concerned about manufacturing being hollowed out. They're not accusing Australia of doing that, but this has become a practice of theirs in their FTAs to basically sandbag, in as many ways as they can, avenues whereby parties may undermine their own manufacturing bases. They're saying, 'Fine, we'll give you your duty-free treatment on day 1 of all these industrial goods, but, if you do something that in the end leads to'-what do you want to call it-'unfair competition through this dual pricing mechanism and we can show it's had a negative effect in the domestic market, that triggers this process.' At best-I think we ended up looking at some of these products-the tariffs are pretty low. On lithium batteries or something, it might be a five per cent tariff you're going back to, and you're no worse off than where we are today with- Senator CANAVAN: So the action they can take is restricted to the resource? Mr Jacenko: To the supply chain of that product. It's not like lithium for dairy or beef; it's literally lithium and its downstream products, if those products are exported from Australia to the EU and they can show there's been an effect. Senator CANAVAN: Did you consult with the states about these provisions? Mr Mina: Throughout this agreement we've consulted very closely with the states and territories and the relevant industries, including any- Senator CANAVAN: Were they alerted to these particular provisions before the deal? Mr Mina: I'm sure, at various points, but we can come back to you on the specifics. Senator CANAVAN: Maybe you can take that on notice.