Anthony Albanese has refused to say if US President Donald Trump is a threat to the economy despite branding fresh tariffs capturing Australia and dozens of other countries an \u201cunjustified\u201d move that will hurt two-way trade.<\/p>\n
The White House this week followed through on President Donald Trump\u2019s pledge to slap levies as high as 12.5 per cent on countries not doing enough to keep forced labour out of their supply chains.<\/p>\n
Australia was captured at the top rate despite its standing as a global leader in anti-modern slavery laws.<\/p>\n
The new tariff came five months after the US Supreme Court struck down the Trump administration\u2019s universal 10 per cent baseline duty, which ended as the new one kicked in, effectively hiking Australia\u2019s rate by 2.5 per cent.<\/p>\n
It also came as renewed fighting between the US and Iran again disrupted oil shipping routes and forced up global fuel prices.<\/p>\n
In an interviewed aired on Sunday, the Prime Minister was asked point blank if Mr Trump was \u201churting the Australian economy\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, we deal with President Trump constructively,\u201d he told the ABC.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll continue to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pressed again, he acknowledged the war with Iran \u201cis having an impact here in Australia\u201d but would not be drawn on Mr Trump\u2019s global tariff assault.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy job is to deal with things as they are,\u201d Mr Albanese said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd dealing with things as they are means treating our allies with respect, engaging constructively with them, including with President Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n
\ufeff\u2018Unjustified\u2019<\/p>\n
Earlier, he vowed to raise the latest round of tariffs with Mr Trump directly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are unjustified,\u201d Mr Albanese told the ABC, adding that Canberra had already raised it \u201cat every level of the Australia-US relationship\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have very strong provisions on modern slavery. We\u2019re strengthening those even further by going through the supply chain issues and making sure that indeed substantial fines and penalties can be paid if those issues aren\u2019t dealt with.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Albanese government this month unveiled tougher anti-modern slavery measures threatening criminal charges for big companies that fail to stop modern slavery in their supply chains.<\/p>\n
Companies charged would need to prove \u201cthey took reasonable steps to prevent modern slavery\u201d to defend themselves.<\/p>\n
Mr Albanese would not say if he thought the tariff was truly about slavery concerns but warned it would penalise Americans and \u201cundermine\u201d trade ties.<\/p>\n
\u201cTariffs are a penalty on consumers in the country that imposes them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will lead to higher costs in the United States and undermine the trading relationship that we have with our US friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer last month framed the \u201cfailure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor\u201d as disadvantaging American workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will no longer tolerate this disparity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Greer welcomed some countries taking \u201cinitial steps to prevent the importation of forced labor goods\u201d but said that \u201ceach of our trading partners must do more to ensure that trade does not perversely encourage and entrench forced labor globally\u201d.<\/p>\n
Some 50 million people are trapped in modern slavery, according to Walk Free\u2019s Global Slavery Index, with it most prevalent across electronics and clothesmaking hubs in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.<\/p>\n
Modern slavery, which includes forced labour, debt bondage and slavery, is a crime under Australian law, even if it happens overseas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anthony Albanese has refused to say if US President Donald Trump is a threat to the economy 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