US President Donald Trump said he agreed to consider a tariff exemption on Australian steel and aluminum imports after a telephone call yesterday with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Albanese argued for an exemption during the call, which was scheduled before Trump on Monday announced that he would impose 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from March 12.
Trump said the US trade surplus with Australia was one of the reasons he was considering an exemption from the tariffs.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We actually have a surplus,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office about trade with Australia. “It’s one of the only countries which we do. And I told [Albanese] that that’s something that we’ll give great consideration to.”
Trump spoke after he removed exceptions and exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on steel, meaning that all steel imports would be taxed at a minimum of 25 percent. Trump also hiked his 2018 aluminum tariffs to 25 percent from 10 percent.
Albanese had told reporters earlier in Canberra he made Australia’s case for an exemption, and that both leaders agreed on wording to say publicly, “which is that the ‘US president agreed that an exemption was under consideration in the interests of both of our countries.’”
“They are the words that are agreed. They’re the words that I’ll stick to. And I can say, though, that it was a very positive and constructive discussion,” Albanese added.
Australia had an exemption from such tariffs during Trump’s first administration.
Australia’s arguments include that the country has run a trade deficit with the US since the mid-20th century and Australian steelmaker BlueScope Steel Ltd employs thousands of workers in the US. Australia has only a minor share of the US markets.
Albanese on Tuesday also raised the AUKUS agreement with the US and Britain, struck with former US president Joe Biden’s administration, in which Australia would acquire a fleet of submarines powered by US nuclear technology.
“Our steel and aluminum are both key inputs for the US-Australia defense industries in both of our countries,” Albanese said.
Trump intends to reset US taxes on all imports to match the same levels charged by other countries, all of which comes on top of the 10 percent tariffs he has already put on China. China’s retaliatory tariffs started on Monday, while the US tariffs planned for Canada and Mexico have been suspended until March 1.
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen yesterday vowed that US tariffs on steel and aluminum “will not go unanswered,” adding that they would trigger tough countermeasures from the bloc’s 27 nations.
“The EU will act to safeguard its economic interests. We will protect our workers, businesses and consumers,” Von der Leyen said in a statement in reaction to Trump’s imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminum the previous day.
“Tariffs are taxes — bad for business, worse for consumers,” she said. “Unjustified tariffs on the EU will not go unanswered — they will trigger firm and proportionate countermeasures.”
In Berlin, capital of the EU’s largest economy, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told parliament that “if the US leaves us no other choice, then the European Union will react united,” adding that “ultimately, trade wars always cost both sides prosperity.”
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