US President Donald Trump flags 20 per cent tariff ‘for the world', warns Australia of tougher trade barriers
Speaking at a press conference in Scotland, Mr Trump said he was planning a new universal tariff 'for the world.'
Asked just how high it would go, he replied: 'I would say it'll be somewhere in the 15 to 20 per cent range. I just want to be nice. Probably one of those two numbers.'
Currently, most US trading partners, Australia included, face America's 10 per cent 'baseline' tariff.
In April, Mr Trump announced even higher 'reciprocal' tariffs for certain countries, but those increases were put on hold to allow negotiations on new trade agreements.
Australia was not subject to the higher 'reciprocal' rate, but Mr Trump's latest comments suggest local exporters could be affected by the proposed global hike.
'We're going to be setting a tariff for, essentially, the rest of the world,' Mr Trump told reporters.
'That's what they're going to pay if they want to do business in the United States, because you can't sit down and make 200 deals.'
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has argued that the longstanding Australia-US free trade agreement and Australia's trade deficit with the US should exempt Australian imports from any new tariffs.
Yet American officials continue to raise concerns about 'non-tariff barriers' to doing business, including laws requiring tech firms to pay for news content and rules governing the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
In April, Mr Trump also took aim at Australia's biosecurity restrictions barring US beef imports, measures that the federal government has since agreed to lift.
Mr Trump, who has vowed to end decades of US trade deficits by imposing tariffs on nearly all trading partners, has already announced higher rates of up to 50 per cent on some countries - including Brazil - starting on Friday.
The announcements have spurred feverish negotiations by a host of countries seeking lower tariff rates including India, Pakistan, Canada and Thailand among others.
The US president on Sunday clinched a huge trade deal with the European Union that includes a 15 per cent tariff on most EU goods, $US600 billion ($A920 billion) of investments in the US by European firms and $US750 billion in energy purchases over the next three years.
That followed a $US550-billion deal with Japan last week and smaller agreements with the United Kingdom, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Other talks are ongoing, including with India, but prospects have dimmed for many more agreements before Friday - Mr Trump's deadline for deals before higher rates take effect.
Mr Trump has repeatedly said he favours straightforward tariff rates over complex negotiations.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Monday trade talks with the US were at an intense phase, conceding that his country was still hoping to walk away with a tariff rate below the 35 per cent announced by Mr Trump on some Canadian imports.
Mr Carney conceded this month that Canada - which sends 75 per cent of its exports to the United States - would likely have to accept some tariffs.
US and Chinese economic officials met in Stockholm on Monday for more than five hours of talks aimed at resolving longstanding economic disputes, seeking to extend a truce on tariffs by three months.
US Treasury Chief Scott Bessent was part of a negotiating team that arrived at Rosenbad, the Swedish prime minister's office in central Stockholm, in the early afternoon.
China's Vice Premier He Lifeng was also seen at the venue.
China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with Trump's administration, after the two governments reached preliminary deals in May and June to end weeks of escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals.
Negotiators from the two sides were seen exiting the office about 8pm and did not stop to speak with reporters.
The discussions are expected to resume on Tuesday.
Mr Trump touched on the talks during a wide-ranging press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland.
'I'd love to see China open up their country,' Mr Trump said.
Without an agreement, global supply chains could face renewed turmoil from US duties snapping back to triple-digit levels that would amount to a bilateral trade embargo.
Trade analysts said another 90-day extension of a tariff and export control truce struck in mid-May between China and the United States was likely.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Zelenskiy chats with Trump ahead of Putin deadline
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has had a "productive" conversation with his US counterpart Donald Trump about ending the war, sanctions on Russia and the finalisation of a US-Ukraine drone deal. Trump, who has signalled frustration with Vladimir Putin in recent weeks, has given the Russian president until Friday to make peace in Ukraine or face tougher sanctions. "President Trump is fully informed about Russian strikes on Kyiv and other cities and communities," Zelenskiy wrote on X, referring to intensifying drone and missile attacks. Trump has threatened to hit Russia with new sanctions and impose 100 per cent tariffs on countries that buy its oil, but sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters that Putin was unlikely to bow to the ultimatum. Putin retains the goal of capturing four regions of Ukraine in their entirety, sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters. His determination to keep going is prompted by his belief that Russia is winning and by scepticism that yet more US sanctions will have much of an impact after successive waves of economic penalties during 3.5 years of war, according to three sources familiar with discussions in the Kremlin. The Russian leader does not want to anger Trump, and he realises that he may be spurning a chance to improve relations with Washington and the West, but his war goals take precedence, two of the sources said. Putin's goal is to fully capture the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, which Russia has claimed as its own, and then to talk about a peace agreement, one of the sources said. "If Putin were able to fully occupy those four regions, which he has claimed for Russia, he could claim that his war in Ukraine had reached his objectives," said James Rodgers, author of the forthcoming book The Return of Russia. Zelenskiy said Ukraine was also ready to conclude a deal with the US on the purchase of Ukrainian drones that would amount to "one of the strongest agreements". He had earlier said the deal was worth around $US30 billion ($A46 billion). Ukraine is increasingly seeking financing and investment from its foreign partners to bolster its burgeoning domestic arms industry. Zelenskiy said Kyiv's European partners had so far pledged to buy more than $US1 billion ($A1.5 billion) in US weapons for Ukraine as part of a new scheme. Sweden, Norway and Denmark will contribute around $US500 million ($A774 million) the three countries said on Tuesday. Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the money would be available immediately and that Denmark would be willing to consider additional funding later. "Speed is absolutely critical," he said in a statement.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
eSafety sommissioner says Youtube turning blind eye to child abuse
Australia's internet watchdog has accused the world's biggest social media firms of still "turning a blind eye" to online child sex abuse material on their platforms, and said YouTube in particular had been unresponsive to its enquiries. In a report released on Wednesday, the eSafety Commissioner said YouTube, along with Apple, failed to track the number of user reports it received of child sex abuse appearing on their platforms and also could not say how long it took them to respond to such reports. The federal government decided last week to include YouTube in its world-first social media ban for teenagers, following the commissioner's advice to overturn its planned exemption for the Alphabet-owned Google's video-sharing site. "When left to their own devices, these companies aren't prioritising the protection of children and are seemingly turning a blind eye to crimes occurring on their services," eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in a statement. "No other consumer-facing industry would be given the licence to operate by enabling such heinous crimes against children on their premises, or services." Google has said previously that abuse material has no place on its platforms and that it uses a range of industry-standard techniques to identify and remove such material. Meta — owner of Facebook, Instagram and Threads, three of the biggest platforms with more than three billion users worldwide — has said it prohibits graphic videos. The eSafety Commissioner, an office set up to protect internet users, has mandated Apple, Discord, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Skype, Snap and WhatsApp report on the measures they take to address child exploitation and abuse material in Australia. The report on their responses so far found a "range of safety deficiencies on their services which increases the risk that child sexual exploitation and abuse material and activity appear on the services". Safety gaps included failures to detect and prevent live-streaming of the material or block links to known child abuse material, as well as inadequate reporting mechanisms. It said platforms were also not using hash-matching technology on all parts of their services to identify images of child sexual abuse by checking them against a database. Google has maintained its anti-abuse measures include hash-matching technology and artificial intelligence. The Australian regulator said some providers had not made improvements to address these safety gaps on their services despite it putting them on notice in previous years. "In the case of Apple services and Google's YouTube, they didn't even answer our questions about how many user reports they received about child sexual abuse on their services or details of how many trust and safety personnel Apple and Google have on-staff," Ms Inman Grant said. Reuters
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
European countries announce $1 bn purchase of US weapons for Ukraine
The Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Denmark will buy $1 billion of US weapons under a new NATO scheme to support Ukraine in its war against Russia, the countries announced Tuesday. The purchases from US stockpiles are the first under the so-called Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), a mechanism launched by US President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte last month. More are expected. The Dutch government said it would buy 500 million euros ($577 million) of weapons, and the three Scandinavian countries will jointly donate $500 million. All the governments highlighted the need to help Ukraine, which has faced mounting military pressure from Russia in recent months. "By supporting Ukraine with determination, we are increasing the pressure on Russia to negotiate," Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans posted on X. Brekelmans called near-daily Russian air strikes "pure terror" and warned that Moscow's advance into Ukrainian territory could pose a broader threat to Europe. "The more Russia dominates Ukraine, the greater the danger to the Netherlands and our NATO allies," he said. "Ukraine is not only fighting for its own security, but also for our security," Swedish Defence Minister Pal Jonson told a press conference to announce the Scandinavian initiative. Sweden will give $275 million towards the total. The Dutch package includes US Patriot missile parts and other systems for Ukraine's badly stretched front-line requirements, according to the defence ministry. The Swedish government said in a statement that the "support will include air defence systems, including munitions to Patriot, anti-tank systems, ammunition and spare parts". Washington is releasing weapons and military hardware for Ukraine from its stockpiles in $500 million tranches under the PURL mechanism. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the donations as "a very strong initiative that significantly boosts our ability to protect lives". "These steps are a new, real foundation for long-term security across all of Europe. Russia will never turn Europe into a continent of war," Zelensky said on X. Zelensky spoke with Trump on Tuesday, three days ahead of a deadline the US leader has set for Russia to make an initiative to halt the war. He said in a social media post that the two had discussed sanctions against Russia and "bilateral defence cooperation" but did not give details. The NATO secretary general praised the Netherlands for being the first country to announce funding to the new scheme and also welcomed the Scandinavian move. "Since the earliest days of Russia's full-scale invasion, Denmark, Norway and Sweden have been steadfast in their support for Ukraine. I commend these allies for their quick efforts to get this initiative off the ground," Rutte said in a statement. jll/mmp/jc/tw/js
