Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T23:06:27.524Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

An Overview of Protection of Australian Manufacturing: Past, Present and Future

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

R. M. Conlon*
Affiliation:
School of Economics, The University of New South Wales
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Australia, and before Federation, the colonies, have long histories of tariff protection. However, by the end of this century tariffs for imports of most commodities will have been lowered to negligible levels. This paper briefly examines the history of the tariff and the changing structure of assistance to manufacturing in the 1980s and 1990s. As the tariff has been dismantled, a variety of alternative measures have been implemented. Thus, while the ‘old’ protectionism of tariffs on imports has been discredited, a ‘new’ form of protectionism — much to do with providing assistance for exports — has arisen to at least partially take its place. The protective effects of many of these measures is far less apparent and possibly more deleterious than the tariffs they replace.

Type
Contemporary Issues
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 1994

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (1993) Manufacturing in Australia, 1990–91 (Cat. 8221.0).Google Scholar
Allin, C.D. (1907) A History of the Tariff Relations of the Australian Colonies, Kingston Ont.: British Whig Publishing Co. Google Scholar
Brander, J.A., Spencer, B.J. (1985) ‘Export Subsidies and International Market Share Rivalry’, Journal of International Economics 16, pp. 83100.Google Scholar
Brigden, J. B., et al (1929) The Australian Tariff, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.Google Scholar
Button, J. (1992) Ministerial Statement 101/92, 16 July.Google Scholar
Conlon, R.M. (1986) Distance and Duties: Determinants of Manufacturing in Australia and Canada, Ottawa: Carleton University Press.Google Scholar
Gruen, F.H. (1986) Review of the Customs Tariff Antidumping Act 1975, Canberra: Department of Industry Technology and Commerce.Google Scholar
Industries Assistance Commission (IAC) (1976, 1983, 1987) Annual Reports, Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.Google Scholar
Industry Commission (IC) (1990, 1991, 1992) Annual Reports, Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.Google Scholar
Jackson, R.J., et al (1975) Policies for the Development of Manufacturing Industry, (Report), Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.Google Scholar
Reitsma, A.J. (1960) Trade Protection in Australia, Brisbane: University of Queensland Press.Google Scholar
Tariff Board (1927) Annual Report, Commonwealth Government Printer.Google Scholar