White House rules out tariff exemption for Australia — 25 per cent tariffs will apply from Wednesday, for $1 billion in annual steel and aluminium exports to the U.S.

https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/white-house-rules-out-tariff-exemption-for-australia-20250312-p5liue

Posted by marketrent

10 comments

  1. By Jessica Gardner:

    *About $1 billion in annual Australian steel and aluminium exports to the United States will be hit with 25 per cent tariffs from Wednesday after Donald Trump ruled out an exemption.*

    *The rejection is a blow to the Albanese government, which had been hoping to rely on its strong alliance with the US and the argument that the larger partner ran a trade surplus to secure a carve-out.*

    *In a briefing to the Australian media in Washington on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT), White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt confirmed there would be no exemption for Australia.*

    *“He considered it, and considered against it,” she told the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), referring to Trump. “There will be no exemptions.”*

    **Asked why, Leavitt said: “American-first steel. And if they want to be exempted, they should consider moving steel manufacturing here.” […]*

    *Economists have argued the steel and aluminium tariffs on Australia will have only a modest effect on the domestic economy. But they are wary of the flow-on effect from a serious tit-for-tat with China, Australia’s largest trading partner.*

    *The Australian companies most affected by tariffs would be BlueScope, Alcoa and Rio Tinto. […]*

  2. Apologies for copying my comment in arr/Australia: This is Trump trying to interfere in the upcoming election. He wants another conservative government in power. I assume the plan is for Trump to say he will lift tariffs if LNP get into power, Dutton to save the day, etc. If he doesn’t outright say it, he will imply it.

  3. Not that this is a surprise to anyone given the person responsible for implementing the tariff **but** America would be incredibly hard pressed to find a more staunch friend and ally than Australia. They have sent Australian soldiers to fight, bleed and die in almost every single American conflict from Vietnam to Iraq. Even when fighting for all the wrong reasons, the Australians have had America’s back.

    I don’t know how Australia sees this as anything other than a betrayal.

  4. Keep digging, Trump. Fuck around and find out. This is going to be fun to watch.

    What exactly do you think US manufacturers are going to do without aluminum and steel from Canada, China and Aus ? Make things out of air ?

    What do you think those 6000 pound SUVs your country loves are made of ? Here’s a thought… if you don’t want your country importing so much stuff then stop buying so much stuff ! LOL.

    If you think that putting tariffs on everything is going to increase the prosperity of the US, you have another thing coming. Maybe that is why your stock markets are falling so much.

  5. Australia is an ally.
    And only 10% tariffs on China, an adversary who never plays fair.

    What kind of sense is this supposed to make?

  6. Is this grand strategy?
    Dont want convoys, so they want everything produced back home to prepare for a potential war?

  7. this simply means that anything America makes that is metal will be more expensive both for domestic and export market. 
    so it will hike prices and reduce demand for a large proportion of their consumer and engineering products. 
    meanwhile, even when they have their own production of steel, it won’t be cheaper than Korea or Canada so they will still be at a disadvantage on export markets

  8. If australia ever follows the US into one if their stupid wars again l, the government if the day will absolutely plummet in support. Why should Australians fight for american interests, like we have over the last 100 years, only for them to throw all of that back in our faces. Trump is doing irreversible damage to America’s standing in the world and I think we will see a re alignment with countries and the US.

  9. Where is the logic in this?

    He’s just speedrunning America’s downfall here by alienating all allies. He’s doing a better job than Putin or Bin Laden could do to ever ruffle up the Western World Order.

  10. Australia produces a lot of the ore for aluminium but Iceland processes it due cheap energy from geothermal, Canada is a middle in a lot of the supply chain, so it’s a somewhat decent traffi in that sense the sense that it’s easy money but the US should have been on this year’s ago.

    Tbf they were due to prior trade deals it was, but now it’s a point of contention

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