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Was Federation Uniting or Dividing? The Impact of the Customs Union of 1901 on Australian Trade Relationships

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  • William Coleman

Abstract

The paper examines data on intra‐Australian trade and Australian international trade before and after the establishment of an Australian Customs union at Federation in 1901. The paper infers from these data that the Federation customs union cannot be simply summarised as ‘nationalising’ of Australian trade relationships. Internal trade ties did not unambiguously strengthen outside of Victoria. And while there is evidence that Victoria and New South Wales did redirect exports from the rest of the world to the rest of Australia, the data also indicate that the smaller states actually strengthened their exports to the rest of the world, perhaps as a resort in the face of a customs union that was a benefit to the larger states and not themselves.

Suggested Citation

  • William Coleman, 2018. "Was Federation Uniting or Dividing? The Impact of the Customs Union of 1901 on Australian Trade Relationships," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 37(3), pages 230-247, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:econpa:v:37:y:2018:i:3:p:230-247
    DOI: 10.1111/1759-3441.12223
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. P. J. Lloyd, 2016. "The First 100 Years of Tariffs in Australia: the Colonies," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 2018, The University of Melbourne.
    2. Magee, Christopher S.P., 2008. "New measures of trade creation and trade diversion," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 349-362, July.
    3. Peter Lloyd, 2015. "Customs Union and Fiscal Union in Australia at Federation," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 91(293), pages 155-171, June.
    4. Douglas A. Irwin, 2006. "The Impact of Federation on Australia's Trade Flows," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 82(258), pages 315-324, September.
    5. Peter Lloyd, 2008. "100 Years Of Tariff Protection In Australia," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 48(2), pages 99-145, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Luke H. Grayson & Brian D. Varian, 2023. "Economic Aspects of Australian Federation: Trade Restrictiveness and Welfare Effects in the Colonies and the Commonwealth, 1901-3," CEH Discussion Papers 01, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    2. William Coleman, 2020. "Which States Gained, and Which States Lost, from Australia’s Federation Customs Union of 1902? The Answers of a Theoretical Schema, with an Empirical Check," CEH Discussion Papers 08, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration

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