Australian exporters may be hit with tariffs of up to 20 per cent at the US border, after President Donald Trump flagged a hike in the baseline impost.
He suggested countries that do not negotiate separate trade deals would soon be hit with a new minimum tariff up to twice as high at a press conference at his luxury golf resort in Turnberry, Scotland on Monday (Tuesday, AEST).
He said the tariff would affect ‘the rest of the world’ after securing trade deals with major economies including Japan and the European Union.
Asked what the new rate would be, he said: ‘I would say it’ll be somewhere in the 15 to 20 per cent range.’
‘Probably one of those two numbers’.
Trump floated broad-sweeping tariffs as way to encourage more manufacturing firms to set up shop in the US.
Australia is among the roughly 200 countries expected to be hit with the new baseline tariff despite its bilateral free-trade agreement with the US.
Shadow Finance Minister James Paterson said the update shed new light on the need for the Australian Prime Minister to meet with Trump.
US President Donald Trump delivered the update from his golf resort in Scotland on Monday
‘I think there is enough evidence now in the public realm that we do have a problem in the bilateral relationship between Australia and the United States,’ he told Sky News.
‘It’s more than 260 days since the president was elected, Anthony Albanese has still not sat down and met with him.’
Mr Albanese sought to discuss the tariffs with Trump during their attendance at the G7 summit in Canada last month before the US President cut his trip short.
Mr Peterson added it remained ‘unclear’ whether Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd had yet to meet with the White House administration since Trump was sworn in in January.
‘I suspect we would know about it if he had, I suspect it would be all over social media if he had, so I think it’s a reasonable inference now that there has been no meetings.’
For its part, the Albanese government has restated its opposition to the tariffs but has downplayed what it says about the two country’s relationships.
‘We are a country that relies on trade, we are a country with a very high proportion of jobs that rely on trade,’ Assistant Treasurer Dan Mulino told Sky News.
‘That remains the position of this government. So, we would rather a situation in which the world doesn’t go down the path of imposing tariffs.
Prime Minister has yet to meet with the US President since his inauguration in January
‘But what I can say is that Australia remains in a situation where we’ve got as good a deal as anybody, and we continue to engage with the US Government intensely on these matters.’
A spokesperson for Trade Minister Don Farrell said Australia would continue to engage ‘at all levels’ to advocate for the removal of the tariffs.
‘Our position is unchanged – any tariffs on Australian goods are unjustified and an act of economic self-harm,’ they said.
It comes only days after Australia lifted its ban on importing US beef – eliminating a key reason cited by the Trump administration for its tariff on Aussie goods.
Mr Albanese insisted the move was the outcome of a review that had been underway for years, but US officials have celebrated it as a win for the president.
‘This is yet another example of the kind of market access the president negotiates to bring America into a new golden age of prosperity, with American agriculture leading the way,’ US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said.
More to come.
