Australia’s chances of escaping America’s global steel and aluminium tariffs appear all but extinguished, with the US president reconfirming his commitment to a comprehensive tariff regime he argues will be “the greatest thing we’ve ever done as a country”.
“We’re going to take in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs, and we’re going to become so rich, you’re not going to know where to spend all that money,” Donald Trump told reporters on board Air Force One flying from Florida to Washington DC.
“We’re basically going to take back the money – a lot of the money that we’ve given away over many decades.”
Trump’s comments affirm those of his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, and director of the White House National Economic Council, Kevin Hassett, who have both said the tariffs would be imposed from 12 March as promised, and that there would be no exemptions granted.
Australia has been lobbying intensely to be carved out of America’s global tariff regimes on imported steel and aluminium, arguing Australia is not only a US ally but one that runs a significant trade deficit with the US.
While Trump said he would give “great consideration” to exempting Australia after he and Albanese spoke by phone last month, the White House line has hardened since, and it appears unlikely there will be any reprieve for Australia from the tariff regime, as there was in Trump’s first term.
That exemption, in 2018, was won by then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, whose intervention this time around might have the opposite effect.
Trump on Monday condemned Turnbull as a “weak and ineffective leader” who did not understand the threat posed by China and who had been rejected by the Australian people, in a late-night post to social media platform Truth Social.
Trump’s invective came, apparently, in response to comments Turnbull made in an interview with Bloomberg that the US president’s chaos and capriciousness would benefit China and disadvantage the US.
“President Xi will aim to be the exact opposite of Trump: where Trump is chaotic, he will be consistent. Where Trump is rude and abusive, he’ll be respectful. Where Trump is erratic, he will be consistent.”
For countries considering a choice between “China on the one hand, and Trump on the other”, many would “find China a more attractive partner”.
Since Trump’s post, Turnbull has reiterated the comments in several interviews, arguing that a “conga line of sycophants creeping through the White House, paying homage” to Trump was ludicrous.
“The reality is, if you suck up to bullies, whether it is [in] ... global affairs, or in the playground, you just get more bullying.”
Even before Turnbull’s intervention, senior US administration officials had offered little hope that Australia might be spared from the tariffs Trump has used as leverage in manipulating foreign governments, on everything from fentanyl trafficking to border security.
Hassett said the president viewed steel and aluminium production as a “national security matter” and condemned countries for seeking to undermine US industry by dumping subsidised products into its market.
“[The president] is working on getting that resolved without any exemptions. He really doesn’t like the word ‘exemption’. If I walk in and offer an exemption, then I’ll probably get kicked out of the office. We’ll see how it goes. So maybe there’ll be some: I doubt it.”
Last week, Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro accused Australia of dumping subsidised, below-cost aluminium into the US market, comparing Australia to Russia and China in exploiting the US.
“The era of unchecked imports undermining American industry is over. The United States will no longer be a dumping ground for heavily subsidised and unfairly traded aluminum,” he wrote in USA Today.
“Nations considered US allies also have been a big part of the problem. Consider Australia. Its heavily subsidised smelters operate below cost, giving them an unfair dumping advantage, while Australia’s close ties to China further distort global aluminum trade.”
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, told media this week he was engaging with companies including Rio Tinto and BlueScope “to seek a positive outcome”, and said the government was engaging “constructively” to achieve a carve-out for the tariffs.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, flew to Washington in February to make the case for an Australian carve-out: “Australia has a different case to make than other countries,” he said.
