Publisher's Synopsis
Over the last thirty years there have been dramatic changes in Australia's approach to trade and industry policy. On the domestic front, objectives have shifted from protection and expansion of manufacturing industry to promotion of international competition in most sectors of the economy. In the international arena, Australia's commitment to the GATT and efforts to liberalise trade on a multilateral basis have paralleled changes in its domestic liberalisation policies. So, by the mid 1980s Australia was in the vanguard of - ultimately successful - efforts to liberalise world trade in the Uruguay Round.
This collection of more than 400 documents charts these important developments, beginning with the fascinating debates between John McEwen and the Tariff Board in the mid-1960s about the efficacy of 'made-to-measure' protection policy, traversing the major liberalisations under the Hawke then Keating Governments, and ending with the Howard Government's program of assistance for the car industry which was substantially at variance with the Industry Commission, the successor to the Tariff Board.
The collection covers trade and industry policy in the broad as well as industry-specific policies and generic industry programs including export promotion and government procurement. In Part II, in addition to Australia's policy towards GATT Rounds, bilateral and regional trade relations (including the recent APEC initiative) are explored at length. This section also documents foreign aid policies, Australia's experience with international commodity arrangements, anti-dumping and countervailing policies, and intellectual property laws. Exchange rate and foreign investment policy are documented in Part III along with a concluding section which draws together policies which can act as hidden trade barriers (quarantine) or which, increasingly, are regarded by some governments as legitimate targets for trade retaliation (environmental practices, for instance).
Each chapter is introduced by a narrative which places the documents in context and, where necessary, provides additional explanation and background. The intention is to provide a compact reference for this very important period.
