The Pros And Cons Of Free Trade Agreements

Imagine walking into a shopping centre, and going into a store like JB-HiFi who, specialises in electronics. You’re looking for a tablet that is simple yet does the job. You find many that do the job, all from different countries. The styles are the same but, the prices are different from varying of different country. Why is there so many? As well as why are the prices different of different countries.

This is all possible because of free trade agreements that both parties have signed. Recently Australia has signed yet another free trade agreement with China, which is the worst free trade agreement they have ever signed. It threatens Australian jobs, skill assessments will be void, as well as the existing FTA’s have not benefited Australian industry.

Some may wonder what a free trade agreement is. A free trade agreement or more commonly known as a FTA are international treaties that reduce barriers to trade and investment. FTA’s allows the participating countries to effectively drop tariffs, quotas, country specific

criteria for goods, and other government costs and barriers. Consumers can see the benefits when goods come from countries that they have an agreement too. Consumers can see an increase in brands, styles and varieties. Australia has 9 FTA’s in place including the one with China. The China Free Trade agreement was signed on the 17th of June 2015 and put into effect on the 20th of December 2015.
Firstly, the ChaFTA threatens Australian jobs, as companies can bring over workers and place them into jobs.

The Australian government states that the agreement will not let us lose jobs, however the ABC Fact check has found that jobs are at risk. Stuart Rosewarne an expert on international migration at the university of Sydney states that “There’s nothing in the agreement that requires them to mandate there will be labour market testing”. Labour Market Testing, is a system where companies must advertise jobs locally in Australia before bringing overseas labour, under the China free trade agreement, companies can bypass that stage. Hence meaning that any employer can bring workers from China, without having to check if local workers can do the job, which means Australian jobs are lost. Australia’s unemployment rate is already at 5.8%. Since locals aren’t getting calls for jobs the number will rise. These locals need to make money to make a

living.
Furthermore, the agreement removes skill assessment tests from many vital trades making it much more dangerous in the workplace. These tests are used to see the workers have the necessary skills to work particular occupations in Australia. The ChaFTA aims on eliminating these tests in the next 5 years. The trades that are effected, are the trades that the everyday Australian calls help for. Andrew Robb, Minister for Trade and Investment removes the assessments for these 10 occupations ; Automotive Electrician, cabinetmaker, carpenter, carpenter and joiner, diesel motor mechanic, electrician (general), electrician (special class), joiner, motor mechanic and motorcycle mechanic. Without these tests, we will be danger. These are the only occupations that have these tests removed. However, the remaining occupations will be reviewed within the next two years. These skill assessments were put in place by the former Labour government to prevent two things. 1, to prevent exploitation by employers hiring skilled foreign workers and working them as cheap unskilled labour and 2, to address concerns about trade training standards and qualification and document fraud in high risk countries. Another reason to why the agreement is one of the worst, as it makes workplaces and households dangerous, as well as these workers may be exploited.
As well as, it has been noted that the past FTA’s Australia has singed has not benefited us in anyway, hence why should this agreement as well. In all of Australia’s agreement, we have been out-negotiated. Australia’s approach to free trade has left us in a position were we are not benefiting as we should be. The Australian government states that free trade agreements provide millions of dollars, when in fact they are not. A productivity commission review of trade agreements in 2010 found that the “current processes for assessing and priotising FTA’s lack transparency and tend to oversell the likely benefits”. So, if the previous agreements have not benefited Australia as they state. Why should the pro’s of the ChaFTA benefit us.
However, even though there are negatives to this agreement, there are also positives. Australian consumers may see a decrease in prices on products that are made in China. These may range from electronics to whitegoods. Also there is a guarantee that Australian tourism