| WASHINGTON still had concerns about the free trade deal with Australia, US Ambassador Tom Schieffer said tonight. Australia and the US gave the final go ahead to the deal overnight, paving the way for it to come into effect on January 1 next year. The US last month signalled there could be delays amid concerns from American drug companies over Labor amendments to the Australian laws underpinning the agreement. Mr Schieffer told ABC TV the concerns were still there. "What we basically said was we'll agree to disagree," he said. "The government assured us the amendments would not be contrary to the spirit of the agreement. "While we still have concerns, what we basically said is if it presents a problem in the future, we will try to deal with it first on a bilateral basis, and if we're not able to resolve it in that way we'll try to resolve it through the forum of the World Trade Organisation." Mr Schieffer said the compromise over the concerns showed the benefit of the close relationship between the two nations. "Close friends can have those kind of concerns and resolve them in this way," he said. |