U.S. – Australia Relations
US-AUS Free Trade Agreement: What's the Outcome for Wool?
Washington, D.C. — [1] April 2004
Commodity Fact Sheet
April 2004
What’s the Outcome for Wool?
On February 8, 2004, the United States and Australia concluded negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and on February 13, 2004, President Bush notified Congress of the intent of the United States to enter into an FTA with Australia. The FTA contains commitments on most agricultural products, and addresses other trade measures between the two countries as well.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Australian Commitments
The current situation. . . Australia does not apply any tariffs on imports of wool.
With the agreement. . . Australia locks in duty-free tariff treatment for all U.S. wool.
United States Commitments
The current situation. . . Although the majority of U.S. import tariff lines for wool are duty-free, Australian wool exporters face some U.S. import tariffs ranging from 3 to 15 percent. From 2001 through 2003, U.S. wool imports from Australia averaged $17.5 million annually and accounted for 70 percent by volume of the U.S. wool import market.
With the agreement . . . Australia gains preferential access as product-specific tariffs are reduced over a 4 to 10 year period in equal annual steps. All U.S. imports of Australian wool will be duty-free starting January 1 of year 10. The U.S. import tariff on wool classified under HTSUS item number 51011160 will be phased out over a 4-year period until duty-free beginning January 1 of year 4.
The following U.S. import tariffs on wool classified under HTSUS item numbers 51011960, 51012140, 51012170, 51012940, 51012970, 51013040, and 51013070 will be phased out over a 10-year period until duty-free beginning January 1 of year 10.
Original document from www.fas.usda.gov.
Last update Monday, 19 November 2007
