EU Concludes Trade Agreement with Australia

The EU has managed, after eight years, to reach a trade agreement with Australia. 

Thomas Kolbe | March 25, 2026

In the turmoil of the Iran war, the EU has managed, after eight years, to reach a trade agreement with Australia. Numerous tariffs are set to be reduced, and the industry will receive a cautious export boost. Most importantly, the EU finally seems to have recognized the significance of securing critical raw materials.

It took an astonishing eight years before the European Union and Australia were able, at the beginning of the week, to agree on a joint trade agreement. What EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese presented in Australia’s capital Canberra represented a far-reaching reduction of direct tariffs over a medium-term period.

Over 90 percent of goods will be able to circulate freely between the two continents, of course always under the application of common harmonization regulations and, above all, European climate protection rules. This must be taken into account in every so-called free trade agreement. The regulations do not disappear for businesses. In the case of agreements with the EU, they are largely extended to the trading partners.

In every trade agreement where the European Union is a signatory, Brussels tries to weave massive climate protectionism into global trade. In a sense, a kind of postmodern climate colonialism. That is the concept of free trade as Europeans practice........

© American Thinker