The CER

Unilateral and Regional Trade Policies of the CER Countries This paper reviews the reforms to the trade policies of Australia and New Zealand over the last thirty years, including the Closer Economic Relations Agreement between the two countries. Since undertaking unilateral reforms of trade policies in the 1980s, Australia and New Zealand have a style of trade policy which is quite distinctive. Among the common elements are a fast rate of unilateral reductions in barriers …

…both of which had heavily protected their manufacturers for over 50 years. In Australia this may be explained largely by the increased transparency of the system under the Industry Commission and its predecessors and the steady drip of analysis of the costs of differential assistance which has come from academics and the bureaucracy. In New Zealand, the trade policy reforms were part of a broader range of economic reforms brought on by a national financial crisis.