logo
Call to axe 'nuisance' levies as US tariffs wreak havoc

Call to axe 'nuisance' levies as US tariffs wreak havoc

Perth Now2 days ago
Australia has been urged to push for free markets, avoid a trade war and reduce its own "nuisance" levies as the world braces for the resumption of US tariffs.
While President Donald Trump's tariffs are unlikely to have a significant direct impact on Australia when he lifts a pause on reciprocal levies on August 1, the uncertainty they create could wreak havoc on living standards across the globe.
Were it not for that, modelling from the Productivity Commission has found Australia could receive some benefits from US tariffs.
But the federal government's independent research and advisory body has recommended Australia mitigate impacts by committing to free trade agreements, reducing some of its own tariffs and working towards open markets - offering much-needed certainty for exporters.
Any retaliatory tariffs could escalate into a broader trade war, potentially exacerbating uncertainty, which the commission warned would bring "serious consequences".
In 2025, economic uncertainty in Australia and across the world reached its highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The speed, frequency and varying scope of Mr Trump's tariffs created an environment where world trade could be transformed at any time and without warning, creating uncertainty that could slow economic activity, household consumption and investment.
Of the scenarios modelled by the commission, Australia would do better under a "Liberation Day" situation where - much like the real event - Australia's exports face only the baseline tariff of 10 per cent while other countries' goods are hit with higher rates.
Since Australian items are impacted by a lower rate, they would be comparatively cheaper, meaning American consumers would shift demand to Australia.
Lower US demand for other countries' imports would decrease their price, reducing the cost of import inputs used in Australian production.
The US tariffs would also likely lead capital to flow out of America and high-tariffed countries, benefiting other economies like Australia.
This means Liberation Day tariffs, alongside Mr Trump's levies on steel and aluminium, could lead to a 0.37 per cent increase in Australia's real gross domestic product and a 30.9 per cent increase in US demand for Australian exports.
While it is unclear whether Australia could negotiate a tariff exemption, the government could take things into its own hands by removing more of its own "nuisance" levies.
It has already abolished almost 500 of these tariffs, which impose high costs on businesses and generate little revenue, but the commission identified another 315 that could be urgently removed.
"Australia is best served by continuing to advocate for free and fair trade - and that's exactly what we've done," Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in response to the report.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Fresh warning bell for Aussie economy
Fresh warning bell for Aussie economy

Perth Now

time10 minutes ago

  • Perth Now

Fresh warning bell for Aussie economy

Business revenues declined in May for the first time since late 2024 in a fresh warning bell for Australia's stumbling economy. The Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed the dip in its latest data release on business turnover, which covers total income generated from sales before taking out expenses. A slump in arts and recreation services propelled the decline, with the category tumbling 5.5 per cent over the month. Manufacturing declined 1.3 per cent and retail slipped 0.8 per cent. Altogether, turnover in five of 13 industries fell. 'This is the first fall in monthly business turnover since October 2024,' ABS head of business statistics Robert Ewing said. 'Softening the fall, we saw rises in electricity, gas, water and waste services, up 1.7 per cent, and wholesale trade, up 1.1 per cent.' IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said May's numbers suggested Australia's economy had entered a 'flat patch'. 'It supports other data that indicates the economy remains in a flat patch, with the softness in retail sales confirming the idea that households remain cautious,' he said. Business turnover declined across May 2025. NewsWire / Nikki Short Credit: News Corp Australia 'This reinforces the need for additional monetary policy easing from the RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia) to boost sentiment and growth prospects for the Australian economy into the end of 2025.' Compared with May 2024, however, overall turnover was 3.3 per cent higher for the month, the ABS said. May's dip follows a shock decision from the RBA on Tuesday to hold the cash rate at 3.85 per cent, defying expectations from expert commentators and the money markets. RBA governor Michele Bullock wanted to wait for the June quarter inflation numbers – scheduled for release on July 20 – before moving on rates. 'We just want to confirm with a full quarterly CPI that we're still on track to deliver inflation continuing down to the middle of the band over time,' she said in response to a question from NewsWire. 'That's the reason we're waiting. We decided to hold and we'll reconsider again in August with this extra information and new forecasts.' bRight Agent co-founder Aaron Scott called the hold a 'cruel blow' for millions of Australian homeowners. 'Despite the fact that a July cut would not have been enough to give most mortgage holders a meaningful reprieve, it would have been welcome by the millions of Aussies who are holding out for more cost-of-living relief,' he said on Tuesday. 'Nobody will be breaking out the Wagyu beef or shiraz.' On Thursday, banking giant Commonwealth Bank also warned that households remained cautious. 'While we still anticipate a pick-up in household spending in 2025, a slower rate-cutting cycle could soften this recovery over the remainder of the year,' CBA senior economist Belinda Allen said. Consumer spending lifted 0.3 per cent in June, the bank's closely watched household spending index revealed, for a third month of gains following rises of 0.4 per cent in both April and May.

Aussie shares rise as investors shrug off tariff fears
Aussie shares rise as investors shrug off tariff fears

West Australian

time13 minutes ago

  • West Australian

Aussie shares rise as investors shrug off tariff fears

The local bourse has been moving higher after the Federal Reserve signalled a US rate cut remains on the table, despite uncertainty stemming from Donald Trump's trade wars. At noon on Thursday the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 49.1 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 8,587.7, while the broader All Ordinaries had gained 47 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 8,824.9. Overnight, minutes from the June meeting of the Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee showed most participants judged a rate cut would be appropriate this year, with a couple favouring one as soon as this month. Barclays said it remained of the view the Fed would trim rates in December, while Citi analysts projected the US central bank would cut in September. Also overnight, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was "cautiously optimistic" the European Union could reach a trade deal with the US in coming days. US stocks rose, with the S&P500 climbing 0.6 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rising 0.9 per cent, and that momentum has carried over to the Australian session. Seven of the ASX's 11 sectors were higher at midday with energy, health care, technology and utilities lower. The property sector was the biggest mover, climbing 1.2 per cent, with Charter Hall adding 1.7 per cent and GPT rising 1.6 per cent. In the heavyweight mining sector, goldminers were bouncing back from Wednesday's sharp selloff as the precious metal traded for $US3,330 an ounce, up $30 from a day before. Evolution rose 3.2 per cent, Newmont added 3.1 per cent and West African Resources had climbed 4.2 per cent. As for the iron ore giants, Fortescue was up 1.5 per cent, while BHP and Rio Tinto had both added 0.9 per cent. In the financial sector, all of the big four banks were higher. ANZ and Westpac were both up 1.0 per cent, NAB had climbed 1.4 per cent and CBA had added 1.1 per cent. In health care, Imrico Medical Systems had sunk 18.3 per cent to a three-month low of $1.27 after the cardiac catheter company indicated regulatory approval for one of its products in the US had fallen behind schedule. The Australian dollar meanwhile was trading for 65.48 US cents, from 65.20 US cents at midday on Wednesday.

Qantas hack includes Chairman's Lounge membership data
Qantas hack includes Chairman's Lounge membership data

Sydney Morning Herald

time13 minutes ago

  • Sydney Morning Herald

Qantas hack includes Chairman's Lounge membership data

The new detail about the data breach was contained in the broader release of information on the scale of last week's hack of Qantas customer data. About 4 million of the 5.7 million records were limited to name, email address and Qantas frequent flyer details only, the airline said, but a smaller, unspecified, subset had 'points balance and status credits included'. Within the 4 million figure, 1.2 million customer records contained only their name and email address. The data exposed from around 1.7 million Qantas travellers contained a combination of their address (1.3 million), date of birth (1.1 million), phone number (900,000) and gender (400,000), and some – about 10,000 – even had their meal preferences hacked. A week after the incursion into its database, Qantas said the airline could 'reconfirm' that no credit card details, personal financial information or passport details were stored in the system affected 'and therefore have not been accessed'. 'There continues to be no impact to Qantas frequent flyer accounts. Passwords, PINs and login details were not accessed or compromised. The data that was compromised is not enough to gain access to these frequent flyer accounts,' Qantas said in a statement. Last week, after detecting unauthorised activity on a 'third-party platform' used by the airline's contact centre in Manila, the airline called in cyber investigators and began notifying members. On Monday, Qantas said that 'a potential cybercriminal has made contact' with the airline. Hacked data is often used for further digital fraud. Rob Dooley, vice president of cybersecurity company Rapid7, notes that stolen information on its own is 'relatively innocuous'. 'It's when you correlate it with other data such as passwords matching those credentials from other breaches that it becomes valuable. 'It was connecting email addresses used as usernames and hoping those users didn't have two-factor authentication and had not changed their passwords,' said Dooley. This tactic was used in recent attacks on Australian superannuation funds, such as Australian Retirement Trust, AustralianSuper, HostPlus and Insignia Financial. Qantas claims 17 million frequent flyer members globally. The Qantas data breach also follows cyberattacks on Optus and Medibank Private in 2022. The criminals who breached Medibank Private began posting customer data online to coerce the health insurer into paying a ransom. Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson said the airline had purged data in the aftermath of the damaging hacks of Optus and Medibank in 2022. 'The data we were deleting was more personal identity data that has been historically held in our system, such as passport details and also other relevant identity data. 'That has been an action that we took as a result of the Optus and the Medibank cyberattack,' Hudson said, without detailing the volume of data. Hudson said it was too early to discuss compensation for affected Qantas travellers, as the company was focusing on updating them about the breach. 'By far the majority of customers have said 'the next piece of information that I want from Qantas is the specific details of my data that was breached', which is what we're doing today,' she said. Loading As Hudson spoke, Qantas sent personalised emails to customers detailing what data was breached. 'Our cybersecurity teams have undertaken an investigation and we can confirm that the following types of your data held on the compromised system was accessed,' one email read, outlining that the customer's name, email address and tier of frequent flyer status had been breached. Hudson would not reveal anything about the cybercriminals behind the hack, saying it would be unhelpful to speculate. She referred questions to the Australian Federal Police. The AFP confirmed it was investigating the incident following a request from Qantas. 'Investigators are working closely with the airline and further comment will be provided at an appropriate time,' a spokesperson said. It is understood that the Australian Signals Directorate is also assisting in the response. Qantas urged customers to 'remain alert, especially with email, text messages or telephone calls, particularly where the sender or caller purports to be from Qantas'.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store