Trade between the United States and Australia is strong, as evidenced by the Australia–United States Free Trade Agreement. The United States is Australia’s fourth largest export market and its second largest source of imports.[51] The United States is also the largest investor in Australia while Australia is the fifth largest investor in the US.
Australia and the United States also provide significant competition for each other in several third-party exports such as wheat, uranium and wool and, more recently, in the information technology sector. Although the US has a sizable sheep population, American imports of lamb meat from Australia and New Zealand remain stronger than the domestic output.
Australia–United States relations refers to international relations between the Commonwealth of Australia and the United States of America. Australia has also traditionally been aligned with the Commonwealth of Nations; however, Australia has continually strengthened its relationship with the United States since 1942, as Britain's influence in Asia declined. At the governmental level, Australia–United States relations are formalised by the ANZUS treaty and the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement.[citation needed] The United States is the only country to have served alongside Australia in every major conflict since WWII.[citation needed]
Both the United States and Australia share some common ancestry and history (see British Empire), having both been British colonies. Both countries had native peoples who were dispossessed of their land. Both have been part of the Western alliance of nations in various wars. There are numerous other similarities.
The penal colonies of Australia were actually a redirect from the Thirteen Colonies, for indentured and penal transportation for debtors was officially first begun in the Province of Georgia. Britain could no longer send convicts to British America in a rebellious climate, so the best choice was in newly discovered land by James Cook in 1770. This resulted in the founding of New South Wales in 1788.
According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 55% of Australians approve of U.S. leadership, with 21% disapproving and 24%