So, what difference will the Free Trade Agreement actually make to our lives?

Their Australian degrees and professional qualifications are also more likely to be recognised in America and to give them entree to jobs and business travel in the US.

This deal is obviously not really about free trade. It has some liberalising thrust. This impact will be felt over time and across the board and will be difficult to attribute with certainty to any one event.

From a trade policy perspective, Australia will now have to push forward on a number of fronts.

First and most importantly, both the Australian and the US governments must work hard and fast to reactivate the stalled Doha Round of World Trade Organisation negotiations, from which this bilateral deal has unfortunately distracted both teams of scarce trade negotiating resources.

It is extremely important for any future potential WTO deal, especially on agriculture, for the US Government to act immediately to undo the negative message this FTA outcome is sending to the European Union and our East Asian trade partners in APEC, about US preparedness to liberalise on agriculture.

Simultaneously, the Australian government will no doubt want, for balance, to push towards a possible trade agreement with China. And, of course, we have to implement this deal with the US.

There is no holiday to be had for Australia's hard-working trade negotiating team.