Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has lashed the “unprovoked, unjustified, and unfriendly” decision of US President Donald Trump not to grant Australia an exemption from global tariffs coming into effect on Wednesday.
The Government will continue to push for a carve-out even after the 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum come into effect at 3pm AEDT, and has ruled out slapping reciprocal tariffs on the US because they are an act of “economic self-harm” that would only hurt Australians.
As the Coalition called on him to “pick up the phone” or travel to the US for a meeting, Mr Albanese said he had put in repeated requests for another call with the President and noted other leaders who had held in-person meetings with Mr Trump had not been granted exemptions.
Stopping short of expressing his anger at the President’s decision, Mr Albanese ramped up his language as he denounced it as “disappointing” and did not reflect the decades-long friendship.
“Australia has a close relationship with the United States. Friends need to act in a way that reinforces, to our respective populations, the fact that we are friends. This is not a friendly act,” he said.
He said it was “against the spirit of our two nations’ enduring friendship, and fundamentally at odds with the benefit of our economic partnership”.
“It is also a fact that this increases costs for US consumers. You cannot overnight change the amount of aluminum or steel that is produced in the United States,” he added.
“Therefore, this decision just increases costs for imports into the US, which will continue and those costs will be paid by Americans, not by Australians.”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong made the same argument, saying that was why Australia would not impose reciprocal tariffs.
“We’re not going to make Australians pay more for goods and services. We know there’s a cost of living crisis for Australians. We know that we have to continue to address it … we are not going to add to cost of living pressures in this country by putting in place tariffs, which will simply drive up prices,” she told Sky News.
Mr Albanese, who last spoke to Mr Trump on February 11 when the President agreed to give “great consideration” to giving Australia an exemption, said he had requested another discussion with the President.
“We have mobilised everything at our disposal… We will continue to engage in all vehicles. We have put in a request for another discussion with President Trump,” he said.
He said the Government had “put forward a range of propositions” to the US in an attempt to avoid the tariffs, and that those discussions were “continuing”.
He said he did not regret his choice to not travel to the US and negotiate in person with Mr Trump, saying other world leaders who’d tried that approach were still subject to tariffs.
The Coalition has blamed Mr Albanese for the tariffs, arguing the PM should have had a face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump.
“All of the other leaders of the Quad and AUKUS, Japan, India, the UK, travelled to the US, and they had face-to-face meetings and they did what they needed to do. They advocated fiercely in their country’s interests … well, where has the prime minister been?” Deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley said.
Mr Albanese said no other country had managed to gain an exemption.
Senator Wong reiterated the Government knew that the “hill we’re climbing this time is much harder” than what former PM Malcolm Turnbull climbed in 2018 when he negotiated an exemption from the first round of Trump tariffs.
“You only need to look at the President’s advisor Peter Navarro, who has said that the lesson from the last Trump administration was that exemptions don’t work. Their position is hardened against exemptions, and they have made clear at this stage that there would be no exemptions,” she said.
https://thewest.com.au/politics/federal-politics/unprovoked-unfriendly-unjustified-anthony-albanese-slams-donald-trumps-tariffs-decision-c-18011098
