Australian Trade Policy Strategy Contradictions

摘要

Che wto's trade policy review (TPR) of Australia in 2011 - its fourth and first since 2007 - was undertaken in the context of a strong Australian economy that avoided going into recession in the 2007-08 global financial crisis and an economy which was enjoying historically high terms of trade in its aftermath. Australia managed to weather the financial crisis despite, as the TPR acknowledges, being one of the most open economies in the world. It was also undertaken soon after an inquiry into bilateral and regional trade agreements by the government's independent policy review institution, the Productivity Commission. With the multilateral trading system weakened because of the stalled Doha Development Round at the WTO and the continued proliferation of bilateral and regional trade agreements in the Asia Pacific region and beyond, Australia has been among many countries actively pursuing its own preferential trade agreements (PTAs).