| | Opening Statement of The Honorable Bill Thomas, Chairman, and a Representative in Congress from the State of California June 16, 2004
Opening Statement of the Honorable Philip Crane
Welcome to this hearing to
focus on the recently completed U.S.
– Australia free trade agreement and the
benefits this agreement will bring to American businesses, farmers, workers, consumers,
and the U.S. economy. The Australia FTA has been
called the “manufacturing FTA” because nearly all duties on industrial goods –
which account for over 90 percent of total U.S.
goods exported to Australia – will be duty-free immediately. U.S. manufacturers estimate that the elimination of duties
could result in $2 billion per year in increased U.S. exports to Australia.
Despite the fact that our two countries are
literally a world apart, Australia and the United States have common values and interests
stemming from our open and free societies and democratic principles. Our two
countries have celebrated over 50 years of security cooperation, and Australia
has been a steadfast ally of the United States in all of the major conflicts of
the 20th and 21st centuries – the two World Wars, Korea,
Vietnam, the 1990 Gulf war, the war on terrorism, and in Afghanistan and Iraq. Australia is the only country in the world to
have done so.
This agreement solidifies
the economic component of that relationship. The United States is the largest foreign investor in Australia, and Australian direct investment in
the United States has increased by 50 percent in the
past decade. Australian companies have direct investments of nearly $70
billion, and employ over 80,000 workers in the United States.
The FTA provides excellent market
access on services, most goods, and most agricultural products. It also sets
high standards in areas such as e-commerce and intellectual property rights.
However, there are a few significant negatives in the deal that ought to be
mentioned and ought not be repeated: sugar is excluded, dairy is
partially excluded, the textiles chapter is unambitious, and there is no investor-state
dispute settlement mechanism. My hope is these exclusions will not be
reflected in future FTAs brought before the Congress.
While I had hoped for an even more
expansive agreement, I believe it is a win-win deal for both countries. I
expect the Australia FTA to be approved quickly by Congress with broad
bipartisan support.
I now recognize the chairman of the
Trade Subcommittee, Mr. Crane, for any comments he may have.
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