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12 December 2002
Australia and Thailand are trying to finalise a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by June 2004.
As cashmere processing capacity outstrips available supplies of cashmere in China, processors and manufacturers are buying superfine wool to blend with cashmere. This could be one of the key reasons behind China's recent overtaking of Italy as the main export destination for Australian superfine wool (19 microns and finer).
China continues as the world's largest importer and processor of raw wool even in the face of high wool prices brought about by low global raw wool availability. The latest statistics show that while China's imports were down in September compared with the same month in the record year 2001, the level of imports was above that for most years in the past decade.
13 December 2002
The market remained stable in the last week of selling prior to the Christmas break, with wool prices dropping 0.4%, on average, at auction sales this week in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle.
Price gains in the Australian wool market were short lived in the last week of selling prior to the Christmas/New Year break with prices decreasing by 1.8% on average at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle.
9 December 2002
The United States last week formally proposed to the World Trade Organization (WTO) that all WTO members eliminate industrial tariffs - specifically including textiles - by 2015. The US proposal calls for the elimination of tariffs across all manufactured products using a two-phase process:1. Phase one, from 2005 to 2010 a. Eliminate tariffs of five per cent or less; b. Eliminate tariffs on "highly traded goods"; c. Harmonise remaining tariffs - including on textiles - to eight per cent or less.2. Phase two, from 2010 to 2015 a. Reduce harmonised tariffs to zero by equal annual cuts, using the "Swiss formula" approach (meaning that the higher the tariff the greater the cut in the its rate).
2 December 2002
Wool growing and processing accounts for 10.5% of Uruguay's export income. Much of the wool grown in Uruguay is from Corriedale and Merilin sheep, with a micron range of between 24 and 29 microns.
The United States of America (US) and Chile have agreed a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which includes a 12-year phase-out period for significant agricultural tariffs. The US claims it is a "state-of-the-art" FTA. It is likely to provide the blueprint for similar FTAs with other countries, such as Australia.