Tearing down trade barriers and reaping tangible benefits is the best way to fight forces slapping “unprecedented pressure” on the global economy, the trade chiefs of Australia and France have declared as they vow to boost two-way trade and investment.
Trade Minister Don Farrell on Wednesday hosted his French counterpart Nicolas Forissier in South Australia’s Clare Valley for high level talks aimed at deepening trade and investment ties beyond the boons of the freshly agreed Australia-EU free trade deal.
Two-way trade with France, the second-biggest economy in the EU, was worth $14.4bn in 2024 while two-way investment hit north of $170bn.
Opening the talks, Senator Farrell said free-trade agreements were “just words on a paper” without concrete results.
“What we have to do, I think, as trade ministers is convert those words to actual practical results, so that French farmers, manufacturers benefit, but also Australian farmers, Australian manufacturers benefit,” he told the visiting delegation.
Echoing his host, Mr Forissier said it was all the more important as tariffs and conflict wreak worldwide economic havoc and upend trading norms.
“My conviction is that we are around this table not only to speak of what we have now, but we’re trying to build a better world for our children, grandchildren, the next generation, in a world which is very difficult, very brutal,” he said.
“And I’m certain that … this trade agreement is one of the best ways to build this peace and this future, because trade and economic partnerships are certainly what strengthen and reinforce the links between the nations.”
Both ministers pointed to critical minerals as an obvious opportunity.
Australia has many of the critical minerals and rare earths France needs for advanced technologies.
“We need your rare earths and critical minerals,” Mr Forissier said.
“You also need our expertise, our companies to come and … develop a number of projects. So let’s try to build this, as you said … in a very practical way.”
In a post-talks joint statement, the ministers pledged to build “a closer and stronger bilateral relationship based on mutual respect, trust, and our shared values of liberty, democracy, rule of law and the protection of human rights”.
In a thinly veiled nod to China, they noted “the strategic challenges the Indo-Pacific is facing and the importance of using our partnership to advance peace, stability and prosperity in the region”.
They also took a swipe at US trade policy under the Trump administration, saying “the rules-based trading system is the best guarantor of openness and predictability for our businesses” and key to shielding economies against shocks.
However, they conceded international trade rules needed reform and said they would work together on it.
Mr Forissier is the first European minister to visit Australia since the free trade agreement with the EU was finalised.
The deal, which took eight years to clinch, will slash imposts on almost all Australian exports to the European Single Market and increase beef access to 35,000 tonnes per year – a 700 per cent boost on current levels.