Trump flags tariff hike that may impact Australia

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

Australian exporters may be hit with tariffs of up to 20 percent at the US border, after President Donald Trump flagged a hike in the baseline duty for all imports. Trump suggested the minimum tariff for countries that do not negotiate separate trade deals may double.
Speaking at a press conference at his luxury golf resort in Turnberry, Scotland on Monday (Tuesday, AEST), the US president said the blanket tariff would affect 'the rest of the world', having secured exemption 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 percent range.
'Probably one of those two numbers'. The baseline tariff is currently set at 10 percent and is applied to most goods sent to the US by about 200 countries including Australia.
Despite mounting pressures on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, his government has been unable to secure an exemption ahead of an August 1 deadline. Shadow Finance Minister James Paterson said the latest announcement exposed the damage caused by Albanese's failure to establish a relationship with Trump, having still not met him face-to-face.
The Prime Minister sought to discuss the tariffs with Trump during the G7 summit in Canada last month but the US President left ahead of schedule due to the Israel-Iran conflict. Mr Paterson added it seemed Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd also had no meetings at the White House since Trump was sworn in in January, having previously mocked and criticized the US president.
'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 downplayed what it said about Australia-US relations.
'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.
'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.
'We, as the opposition, disagree with Trump's tariff policy, but again, it reinforces the urgency and the great disappointment that our prime minister hasn't had a face-to-face meeting with Trump,' he said. 'He needs to go over there and prosecute the case, to argue Australia's case, but also to stand up for free trade across the globe, because the importance of it for us as a trading nation, as Australia.' 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 biosecurity review that had been underway for years rather than a backdown in the face of tariffs, 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.