Now lawBusiness & Trade Introduced in the House of Representatives, 24 Jul 2025

Most goods from the UAE now come in with no import tax

This law sets new, lower taxes on goods from the United Arab Emirates. It is part of a trade deal between the two countries. Some taxes fade out over five years. Alcohol, tobacco and fuel are still taxed like local goods.

Official name: Customs Tariff Amendment (Australia-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Implementation) Bill 2025

Who it affects

• Businesses importing goods from the Emirates: They pay less tax, or none, if the goods count as made in the Emirates.
• Importers of alcohol, tobacco and fuel from the Emirates: They still pay the same tax that local makers pay on the same goods.
• Australian exporters: In return, the Emirates will drop its taxes on over 99 per cent of Australian goods by value.

First Middle East trade deal

Australia and the United Arab Emirates signed a trade deal on 6 November 2024. Its full name is the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. It is Australia's first free trade deal with a country in the Middle East.

A free trade deal is a promise between countries. Each side cuts the tax it charges on the other's goods. This tax is called customs duty, or a tariff. It is charged when goods cross the border.

The government says the Emirates will drop its tariffs on over 99 per cent of Australian exports by value. It thinks this will lift Australian sales overseas by about $678 million a year.

In return, Australia agreed to cut its own tariffs on goods from the Emirates. This law changes the Customs Tariff Act 1995. That is the law that sets tariff rates. The change lets Australia keep its promise.

Another law sets the rules

This law came with a partner bill. The partner bill changed the Customs Act 1901. The Customs Act is the main law on goods that cross the border. The partner bill sets the rules of origin. These are tests that decide if a product really comes from the Emirates.

This law only gives the lower tax to goods that pass those tests. It calls them UAE originating goods. UAE is short for United Arab Emirates. Goods that just pass through the Emirates from somewhere else do not count.

Most UAE goods pay nothing

Most goods that pass the tests pay no tariff at all. This starts on the day the deal starts for Australia. The law calls this rate Free. That means zero.

A new list in the tariff law names the goods that do not go straight to zero. It is called Schedule 16. Anything not on that list pays nothing.

Say you run a shop and bring in perfume made in the Emirates. If perfume is not on the list, you pay no tariff at the border.

Some tariffs drop slowly

For some goods the tariff falls each year. The list names these in items 145 to 257. Their tariffs reach zero by 1 January of the fifth calendar year after the deal starts.

The government gives an example. It uses a type of flat-rolled steel, which is steel pressed into flat sheets. Say the deal started before 1 January 2026. The tariff would be 4 per cent at first. It would drop to 3 per cent in 2026. Then it would be 2 per cent in 2027 and 1 per cent in 2028. It would be Free from 1 January 2029.

Alcohol, tobacco, fuel still taxed

Australia taxes some goods made here, such as beer, spirits, cigarettes and petrol. This tax is called excise. Imported goods of the same kind pay a matching tax at the border. This keeps local makers and importers on equal terms.

The trade deal says these matching taxes are not tariffs. So items 1 to 144 on the list keep the tax on alcohol, tobacco, fuel and oil products from the Emirates. They pay the same rate as local ones.

These rates also keep rising, like the local ones do. Alcohol and fuel rates go up each February and August. They follow the Consumer Price Index, the main measure of how fast prices rise. Tobacco rates go up each March and September. They follow average full-time wages.

The law also adds in the rises from 1 August 2025 and 1 September 2025. That way the rates for the Emirates match local rates on the day the law starts.

Special low rates stay

Another list in the tariff law, called Schedule 4, sets special lower rates for some cases. These are called concessions. The law adds the Emirates to several of them.

One covers Australian goods sent overseas and sent back unchanged. Another covers goods sent overseas to be fixed. Another covers shipping boxes that will go out again. Another covers parts of one machine that come on different ships or planes.

One more covers goods with a Tariff Concession Order. This is an official ruling from the head of customs that gives some goods a lower rate. Some oils that do not have to pay a recycling fee get a 5 per cent rate.

If more than one rate could apply, the importer pays the lowest one.

Older imports get new rates

The law updates the short guide at the front of the tariff law. This helps readers find the new rules for the Emirates.

The new rates apply to goods brought in on or after the start day. They also apply to goods that came in earlier, if the tax on them was not yet worked out.

Start date

The tariff changes start on the later of two days. One is the day the law was signed by the Governor-General, the King's representative. The other is the day the trade deal starts for Australia.

The deal starts 60 days after both countries say in writing they are ready. The minister must announce that date.

The bill went to the House of Representatives on 24 July 2025. It passed there on 30 July. The Senate, Parliament's second house, passed it on 31 July 2025. It was signed into law on 2 August 2025. It became Act No. 33 of 2025.

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum

Open the full interactive page