Percy Pig sweets have been an sudden hit in Australia in current months after a commerce cope with the UK made it simpler for native retailers to inventory the Marks and Spencer confectionery alongside native favourites Cherry Ripes and Freddo Frogs.
“Percy Pigs are flying off the cabinets in Australia,” mentioned Louise Cantillon, Britain’s consul basic in Sydney, who can be deputy commerce commissioner for Asia-Pacific.
Bilateral commerce has blossomed beneath a UK-Australia trade deal, the primary Britain negotiated within the wake of Brexit, rising £2.8bn, or 14 per cent, within the 12 months to June 2025. The settlement eradicated tariffs together with a 5 per cent toll on British biscuits bought in Australia and a 12 per cent levy on Australian beef coming into the UK.
The UK deal was simply certainly one of a flurry of commerce agreements Australia inked because the pandemic, because it sought to guard its export-oriented financial system and responded to protectionist broadsides from its largest buying and selling companions, the US and China.
Canberra has since 2020 finalised agreements with India, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Peru, in addition to signing as much as the pan-Asian Regional Complete Financial Partnership and Pacific Plus pacts.
Negotiations on a long-awaited cope with the EU concluded last month, bringing Australia’s whole variety of agreements to twenty because it struck a cope with neighbouring New Zealand in 1983.
The EU settlement marked the “final hurrah” in Australia’s commerce deal spree, mentioned John Kunkel, non-resident senior fellow at america Research Centre think-tank in Sydney and a chief of workers to former prime minister Scott Morrison. He added that it despatched an essential sign that not all international locations had been lurching in the direction of protectionism.
That drive to deepen and diversify its buying and selling community has helped Australia climate current geopolitical turmoil, which commerce minister Don Farrell has known as the nation’s “largest strain on commerce coverage” within the postwar period.
The primary shock got here in 2020 when China, Australia’s largest buying and selling accomplice, imposed tariffs on a raft of products together with wine, coal, timber, cotton, barley and lobsters. That got here after Canberra banned Huawei gear from 5G networks and known as for an impartial inquiry into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.
David Uren, a senior fellow on the Australian Strategic Coverage Institute, mentioned that Australia was able to weather China’s three-year “assault” on its exports by leaning on different buying and selling companions. “In the course of the interval of Chinese language coercion there was a pure carry with Korea and Japan,” he mentioned.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made repairing the relationship with Beijing one of many hallmarks of his first time period in workplace, and commerce has rebounded due to China’s huge urge for food for iron ore, coal and copper.
China accounted for twenty-four per cent of Australia’s items and companies commerce, or A$309bn (US$220bn) in 2024-2025, up from $251bn in 2019-2020 earlier than the commerce tensions, in accordance with authorities knowledge.
Extra not too long ago, the ache has come from the US. President Donald Trump final 12 months imposed a ten per cent “liberation day” levy on Australia, adopted by a 100 per cent toll on its pharmaceutical sector this month.
However Australia has additionally benefited from Trump’s commerce struggle, which has increased US demand for its beef due to a beneficial tariff differential with rival Brazil.
Shane Oliver, head of funding technique and chief economist at AMP, mentioned that Australia had benefited from a “low profile” because the Trump administration centered on bigger buying and selling companions.
He added that Australia’s bilateral offers and the character of its exports had helped “protect” the nation from a tide of protectionism. “We bought fortunate as our merchandise [meat, barley, coal] are fungible so we might divert them to different markets the place we’ve got offers,” he mentioned.
Canberra has additionally emerged as a key strategic partner in critical minerals, signing a partnership with the US to assist counter China’s management of the uncommon earth provide chain.
The worth of Australia’s community of buying and selling relationships, which Farrell known as a “enormous nationwide asset”, has come to the fore over the previous month through the world power shock brought on by the struggle in Iran.
Australia is a big pure fuel exporter, however relies on imports of crude and refined oil merchandise equivalent to diesel, petrol and jet gasoline for agriculture, trade and transport. Albanese’s authorities has held talks with Asian companions together with Singapore, Japan, Malaysia and Brunei to safe provides.
Albanese mentioned Australia’s flows of mineral, fuel and agricultural exports had been “critically essential” in these talks. “Australia isn’t a type of mates that solely rings up when they need one thing,” he mentioned in a speech in Perth final week.
The commerce cope with the EU, which Farrell known as “the lacking piece” in Australia’s commerce community, was the results of an eight-year slog. Talks had been held up by opposition from French farmers to beef imports in addition to Australian producers’ long-term use of protected designations together with “feta” and “prosecco”.
Albanese mentioned the deal might enhance Australia’s GDP by A$10bn a 12 months.
Ruben Dewitte, an economist at ING, mentioned that the deal was “smart” for each side, providing some cushioning towards the affect of US tariffs.
“Strengthening resilience and lowering vulnerability to shocks is a key financial motivation behind right this moment’s commerce agreements,” he mentioned.
For Queensland-based GLT, which makes trailers for mining, waste and agriculture, Europe was “an afterthought” on account of prices and friction of rules, mentioned chief govt Shay Chalmers.
However US tariffs had compelled the corporate to rethink its procurement technique, whereas the commerce settlement opened up entry to Dutch and German know-how.
“There’s a actual alternative . . . to deal with Australia as a accomplice not only a testing floor,” she mentioned.
Whereas the impetus for finalising the EU commerce deal was to diversify away from an more and more erratic US, it “exhibits that free commerce continues to be a related goal”, mentioned Kunkel at america Research Centre.
“Governments are demonstrating that they produce other companions they’ll dance with.”
Information visualisation by Haohsiang Ko in Hong Kong
