PM offers tariff warning as US expands trade hits to allies
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has again warned tariffs punish the country imposing them, as US President Donald Trump hiked levies on exports from Australia’s most important trade partners.
Earlier on Tuesday (Australian time), Trump unveiled 25 per cent tariffs on goods from Japan and Korea, which are Australia’s second and third biggest export markets and its third and fourth top two-way trading partners.
Australia is yet to receive a tariff letter, meaning most of its exports to the US remain subject to the baseline 10 per cent while steel and aluminium has had a 50 per cent tariff imposed.
Albanese maintained the higher tariffs on Japan and Korea would not raise domestic prices because the federal government was not increasing tariffs.
“Tariffs are a penalty on the country that is imposing them because what they require is for goods to be purchased with a tax on top,” he said in Tasmania on Tuesday.
“The US has made that decision.”
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The government would continue to try negotiate a total exemption from US tariffs, he said, even though no country in the world had done so.
But Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said those discussions would be difficult unless Albanese could secure a face-to-face meeting with Trump.
“I note the changes in some tariffs in some countries today – I care about Australia,” she said in Melbourne.
“I would urge the Prime Minister do everything possible to achieve that meeting, to build that relationship.”
While the tariffs are unlikely to have a significant direct impact on Australia, the uncertainty they create could impact living standards worldwide.
Were it not for that, modelling from the Productivity Commission has found Australia could receive some benefits from US tariffs.
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However, 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 Trump’s tariffs created an environment where world trade could be transformed at any time and without warning, resulting in 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 attracted a lower rate, they would be comparatively cheaper, meaning American consumers would shift demand to Australian goods.
Lower US demand for other countries’ imports would also 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 the “liberation day” tariffs, alongside 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 can 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. 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.
