TARIFFS, TARIFFS, TARIFFS
We’ve only had two weeks of President Trump 2.0, and the news onslaught remains incessant. This morning, the 78-year-old’s tariffs (announced, rescinded, expected) dominate almost everything, as do his plans for the US aid agency.
We’ll get into all the latest shortly, but domestically the ABC reports the Albanese government does not plan to legislate proposals for an enforceable duty of care on tech platforms to take steps to avoid harmful online content before the federal election.
The broadcaster says Communications Minister Michelle Rowland will today publish public servant Delia Rickard’s recommendation to threaten the likes of Meta, Apple and Google with billions of dollars in fines, but will not state the government’s position.
The ABC states: “Committing to the fines now would risk upsetting the Trump administration and its allies in the tech sector at a precarious time when the government is scrambling to avoid mammoth tariffs.”
Yesterday the turmoil caused by Donald Trump’s announced tariffs on the likes of Canada and China wiped about $50 billion off the ASX, with the Australian dollar also hitting a fresh five-year low, the ABC said in another report. Guardian Australia said investors were scrambling to prepare for “a global trade war” sparked by Trump’s tariff regime.
The latest on that front is Trump has delayed the 25% tariffs he announced on Mexican imports after the country agreed to send 10,000 troops to the border to stem the flow of illegal drugs, the BBC reports.
The British broadcaster said the “immediate pause” on the tariffs would last a month, with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum saying the announcement came after a “good conversation” with Trump.
She said part of the agreement also involves the US taking steps to limit the flow of weapons into Mexico from America. “We asked that the US also help our country by helping stop this arms trafficking … he [Trump] agreed,” she said.
Trump is due to speak with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later. A senior Canadian government official is quoted by The New York Times as saying they were not optimistic Canada would get a similar reprieve, but that the situation was still in flux. Canada has already announced retaliatory tariffs in response to Trump’s, which are due to start at midnight Tuesday (local time).
Trump has his eye on other continents too, saying on Monday tariffs on the European Union were “going to be pretty soon”, the BBC adds. “I can tell you that, because they’ve really taken advantage of I said, you know, we have over $300 billion deficit.”
On the UK he added: “UK is out of line. But I’m sure that one, I think that one, can be worked out, Prime Minister [Keir] Starmer has been very nice. We’ve had a couple of meetings, we’ve had numerous phone calls, we’re getting along very well, and we’ll see whether or not we can balance out our budget with the European Union.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has yet to have his first official phone call with President Trump post-inauguration and as politicians and the markets await the next Trump tariff announcement, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles is heading to Washington.
The Australian Financial Review reports Marles will meet with newly-appointed US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week to discuss Australia’s defence and security relationship with the Trump administration. The paper writes: “While the visit is not trade-focused, part of Australia’s case as to why it should not be hit with tariffs is the strength of its contribution to the alliance.”
As the AFR puts it, the Albanese government is “on tariff alert” and The Australian has a cheery-headlined piece this morning stating “We may be Donald Trump’s trade war collateral damage”. In it, the paper claims businesses and the Labor government “have been warned that Donald Trump sees trade tariffs as an ‘end in themselves’ rather than a negotiating tool”.
The Australian highlights comments from NSW Premier Chris Minns earlier this week in which he warned of the impact of a trade war and the potential job losses in the manufacturing sector in the state due to cheaper Chinese goods undercutting NSW-made products.
“I want to speak specifically about potential for dumping Chinese products on the Australian domestic market … Australia can’t be behind the eight ball here,” he said. “Ordinarily speaking, there’s a dumping commissioner that launches a six to nine-month inquiry into what happens to the Australian economy.
“We can’t wait six to nine months when you’ve got Canada, Mexico, China, America almost acting instantly. We need to make sure that we are ready and prepared for these changes.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has been using the favoured line of the Albanese government in its attempts to calm nerves, saying the US has a “trade surplus with us, a two-to-one surplus in America’s favour”.
Lastly, regarding the latest with Trump’s (and Elon Musk’s) chaotic plans for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the global impact of changes to US aid work, CBS News reports the agency will merge with the State Department, resulting in significant cuts to its workforce and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio assuming the role of the agency’s acting director.
PARLIAMENT IS BACK
As we mentioned yesterday, Parliament is back today for a sitting fortnight that might be the last of this term (depending on the RBA decision/when Albanese fancies an election etc etc).
Guardian Australia reports the Greens have offered to help the Labor government pass gambling reforms before said election, with Senator Sarah Hanson-Young offering to amend the party’s bill. The site says Hanson-Young has relented on calls for a full advertising ban (as recommended by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy) and instead offered to amend the Greens’ bill “to reflect a suite of reforms the government had reportedly proposed to backbench MPs and industry sources in August last year”.
As mentioned in last Friday’s Worm, the Nine papers claimed last week no legislation on the subject was expected to be presented before the upcoming federal election.
The ABC reports that laws guaranteeing three days a week of childcare for all families could be made law this fortnight. The Albanese government announced the plans in December and the national broadcaster says the expectation had been that Labor would take the pledge into the election campaign. However, “instead it is moving to legislate the changes in what could be the final two sitting weeks before the election, in an effort to force the Coalition to show its hand on a likely election issue”, the ABC states.
Despite the Coalition’s expected opposition to the bill, the Greens, independent Senator David Pocock, and some members of the crossbench are said to be in support of it. “I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be able to [pass the bill],” Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said.
Shadow minister for early childhood education Angie Bell told Sky News the opposition still had concerns over the plans to ditch the contentious “activity test” which requires parents to be working or looking for work.
Meanwhile, the Nine newspapers report independent MP Allegra Spender will put forward amendments to add “promoting hatred” as an offence under Labor’s proposed hate crimes legislation. The AFR says the amendments “would significantly expand the types of behaviour that could be prosecuted, with jail terms of up to two years”.
As Parliament returns, Guardian Australia has the results of its latest Essential poll, which apparently shows “voters see Peter Dutton as more in touch with ordinary Australians, more decisive and better in a crisis than Anthony Albanese”.
It’s hardly a ringing endorsement though — the site later reveals 63% of voters think Albanese is out of touch, compared to 55% for Dutton.
The polling reportedly also found “43% of respondents believed the government was not doing enough to combat antisemitism in Australia, while 30% thought they were doing enough; 9% said the government was doing too much on the issue, while 18% were unsure”.
Talking of Dutton, Sky News is very excited about Peta Credlin’s interview with the opposition leader which will air on Thursday.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE…
More than 700 people dressed up like Marilyn Monroe and went for a swim in Brighton, Adelaide, on Sunday.
The Marilyn Jetty Swim sees people swim or paddle 400 metres around the Brighton Jetty in their fancy dress, with the efforts raising money for Cancer Council SA, the ABC reports.
Now in its 12th year, the 2025 version was set to be one the biggest events yet after 765 people registered to take part.
Event founder Sarah Tinney is quoted by the ABC as saying she felt “blown away by it all”, adding: “In total, over all the years [combined], we’d be over $1.5 million now and growing.
“With these kinds of numbers, we’re going to hit our $5 million goal in a couple of years. This has exceeded my expectations. I’ve usually got pretty big ideas but this is bigger and better than I could have ever have thought.”
Say What?
Yesterday, Beyonce announced her new tour. Everyone saw that. I will say, though, Beyonce, there’s tariffs. We can’t afford a new tour, right? Maple syrup is about to be $50.
Trevor Noah
The comedian and Grammys host referenced Trump’s headline-dominating tariffs at the music awards on Sunday evening. Beyonce finally won the Album of the Year award for her eighth release, Cowboy Carter.
CRIKEY RECAP
If Paterson wants to complain about Nazis on Twitter, he ought to have a word with his shadow cabinet colleagues who framed Labor’s bill as some sort of onslaught on free speech of the kind that neo-Nazis are so readily taking advantage of on the platform.
But the bigger problem is that Peter Dutton routinely legitimises the kind of hatred of foreigners espoused by malignant actors like neo-Nazis. He has attacked foreign students as the “modern version of boat arrivals” (despite refusing to back any efforts to reduce the level of foreign students at Australian universities) and has linked foreign students to sexual assault, domestic violence and drug trafficking, without evidence.
That’s on top of his history of racism toward African refugees and Lebanese migrants, his lies about the role of the Muslim community in terror incidents, and his insistence Muslim MPs would be a “disaster”, as well as his white supremacist championing of white South African refugees while demanding Palestinian refugees be blocked from entering Australia.
Voters in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, where the council just voted to hike rates by close to 40%, should expect Liberals to target their local federal teal MPs with cost of living attack lines.
Crikey understands the Liberal Party, which lost the Northern Beaches seats of Mackellar and Warringah to independent challengers in recent years, plan to use the rate hike as an argument not to vote for the teals in the upcoming federal election.
The proposed argument would go roughly like this: because the councillors who voted in support of the hike are essentially a “teal” grouping due to the support they’ve received from political funding outfit Climate 200 and federal MPs Zali Steggall and Sophie Scamps, those MPs should bear some responsibility for the rate rise.
“The suggestion is utterly ridiculous,” Steggall told Crikey. “Unlike the Liberals, I’ve consistently voted for cost of living relief — including supporting housing affordability, cheaper medicines, reducing HECS and lowering energy bills — while advocating for higher social benefits and rental assistance.”
On Friday morning, the staffers at a half dozen US-funded medical facilities in Sudan who care for severely malnourished children had a choice to make: defy President Donald Trump’s order to immediately stop their operations or let up to 100 babies and toddlers die.
They chose the children.
In spite of the order, they will keep their facilities open for as long as they can, according to three people with direct knowledge of the situation. The people requested anonymity for fear that the administration might target their group for reprisals. Trump’s order also meant they would stop receiving new, previously approved funds to cover salaries, IV bags and other supplies. They said it’s a matter of days, not weeks, before they run out.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Dangerous flooding and intense rainfall to continue in North Queensland (ABC)
SEN Radio parts ways with cricket journalist over Palestine social media posts (The Sydney Morning Herald) ($)
Sam Kerr repeatedly called police officer ‘stupid and white’, court told as trial begins (The Athletic) ($)
Netanyahu on US visit as Hamas says it is ready to negotiate phase two of ceasefire (The Guardian)
Jenni Hermoso ‘never’ agreed to kiss from former Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales (Sky News)
THE COMMENTARIAT
The dumbest trade war fallout begins — The Editorial Board (The Wall Street Journal): The tariffs may also not cause a surge in the general US price level. Overall inflation depends far more on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy. But prices will increase for most tariffed goods, which will be painful enough.
The tariff broadside also adds new policy risk and uncertainty that could dampen business animal spirits. Markets have been pricing in an assumption that Trump would step back from his most florid tariff threats, or limit tariffs to China.
The hammer blow to Mexico and Canada shows that no country or industry is safe. Trump believes tariffs aren’t merely useful as a diplomatic tool but are economically virtuous by themselves. This will cause friends and foes to recalibrate their dependence on America’s market, with consequences that are hard to predict. How this helps the US isn’t apparent, so, yes, “dumbest trade war” sounds right, if it isn’t an understatement.
Is Peter Dutton deliberately blowing the bloke whistle ahead of the election? — Patricia Karvelas (ABC): When the gender split question was put to Dutton this week at a press conference he bristled. Dutton may be quietly cultivating the votes of men on the back of a worldwide trend that’s seen men move to the right — and some men join a crusade against “wokeism”, but he doesn’t want to be painted as a leader for blokes only. And there’s a good reason for him to run from this image. In a country where compulsory voting is how we do democracy, Dutton needs women, and he needs them to start breaking his way in bigger numbers.
One of the Liberal Party’s most respected strategists, Tony Barry, says while there is undoubtedly a bloke element going on, the quieter story is the recovery in the Liberal vote among female voters since 2022. Now a director at Melbourne-based apolitical research firm Redbridge Group, Barry says the reasons for this are two-fold. First, women are bearing more of the stress of the cost of living crisis, and Redbridge Group research shows they are prioritising the needs of others in their family over their own. “But our research is also showing that Jane Hume and Anne Ruston have developed a significant name ID and have made connections with women voters in particular,” he says.
