Australia: After years of strong ties with China, a trade alliance with India could spell changing tides for Australia and shifting dynamics in the Indo-Pacific region.

An interim free trade agreement is heralding a new era of trade relations between Australia and India, with tariffs on 85 per cent of Australian exports to be cut and agriculture set to be a key beneficiary.

The value of trade between Australia and India has boomed over the past decade, growing from $13.6 billion in 2007 to $24.5 billion in 2020. The recently inked Australia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (AI-CECA) aims to deepen this relationship even further, opening both economies to a bigger pool of goods and services. For Australia, the agreement means greater access to the world’s fastest growing economy and a market of 1.3 billion people.

Many agricultural commodities will benefit from immediate and phased-in tariff cuts when the agreement comes into effect later in the year. Sheep meat, wine, fruit, nuts, vegetables, wool, dairy concentrates, lentils and seeds are among the big winners following decade-long negotiations between Canberra and New Delhi.

Jenny Bradley is a sheep producer based near Armatree in central New South Wales and is the chair of the NSW Farmers Sheep Meat Committee. She welcomes the immediate removal of a 30 per cent tariff on Australian sheep meat and looks forward to a more competitive international market for producers.

“This trade deal will make us less exposed to fickle export markets, like what we saw in 2020 when a major trading partner added hefty tariffs to several Australian goods overnight.”

Jenny Bradley, sheep producer and is the chair of the NSW Farmers Sheep Meat Committee.

The wool industry is another key beneficiary of the proposed trade agreement, buoying the already strong presence of Australian wool in India.

“It is also great timing for lamb producers given our sheep numbers and prices are reaching historic highs. The timing really could not be better.”

The wool industry is another key beneficiary of the proposed trade agreement, buoying the already strong presence of Australian wool in India.

India has become the third largest importer of Australian wool in recent years, and an 82 per cent year-on-year increase in volume purchased between July 2021 to January this year means the agreement is ideally timed.