EU and Australia Sign Wide-Ranging Trade and Security Deal

Overview

• Signed Tuesday in Canberra, the pact scraps most tariffs and sets up a new EU–Australia security and defence partnership.
• It locks in EU access to Australian lithium and other critical minerals and raises Australia’s luxury‑car tax threshold for EVs, leaving about three quarters of electric models tax‑free.
• Farm access comes with fixed quotas of 30,600 tonnes of beef and 25,000 tonnes of sheep and goat meat, phased in with only one third of the beef quota used in the first five years and a safeguard if imports spike.
• The deal still needs European Council approval before it can start, and its rules will roll out over several years.
• Major farm groups denounced the terms as unacceptable, while Brussels points to gains such as a €4 billion boost to EU GDP by 2030 and a forecast 33% rise in exports to Australia.