News Snapshot:
The Productivity Commission has concluded that letting China into the trans-Pacific free trade pact would deliver negligible economic benefit for Australia, a finding that won’t help Beijing’s bid to join the club. A discussion paper by the commission concludes that Australia’s network of multilateral and bilateral free trade agreements across Asia and the Pacific means the nation would get little benefit if China or the US joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).