AUSTRALIA U.S. trade deal elicits criticism

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- The ink was barely dry on a multibillion-dollar U.S.-Australian free-trade deal today before opposition parties and farmers began condemning it, saying it was a sellout that ignored the interests of Australian agriculture.
The Labor Party promised tough vetting of the deal and vowed to torpedo the accord if it turns out not to be in Australia's national interest.
"If we were asked to vote on it today or in the parliament tomorrow we would be opposing it," said Labor leader Mark Latham. "It is not a free-trade agreement at all, it's a partial trade agreement that from our assessment this morning is not in Australia's interest."
The pact, reached Sunday after months of negotiations, will eliminate duties from more than 99 percent of American manufacturing exports to Australia and 97 percent of manufactured goods that Australia sells to the United States, trade officials said.
The nations agreed on the deal after a phone call between Prime Minister John Howard and President Bush, who are close allies in the war on terror and the Iraq campaign. U.S. Ambassador Tom Schieffer said the two leaders' involvement was crucial.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick hailed the deal, which requires approval from the U.S. Congress, as "the most significant immediate cut in industrial tariffs ever achieved in a U.S. free-trade agreement."