Albanese not ruling out recession amid global turmoil
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has refused to rule out the prospect of Australia plunging into recession amid global turmoil driven by US President Donald Trump's trade policy.
The numbers: Global stock markets have crashed since Thursday, when Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs on every country in the world — including 10% on Australia, the lowest rate imposed.
The ASX 200 had its worst day since May 2020 on Monday, though futures trading was pointing to a rise on Tuesday after an extremely volatile session on Wall Street overnight.
The context: Trump has now threatened an extra 50% tariff on China — Australia’s largest trading partner — after Beijing retaliated against the US president's 34% tariff increase on the country as part of his 'Liberation Day' announcement last week, raising the spectre of a full-blown trade war with significant implications for the Australian economy.
Speaking in Sydney on Tuesday, Albanese stressed Australia was not immune from global instability, but refused to be drawn when asked whether he could rule out a recession.
“We have as the government continued to see the economy grow. We've continued to see now, over the last five quarters, wages grow … [and] tax cuts for every taxpayer, dealing with cost of living,” he said.
Albanese also argued Australia was the first country in the world to respond to Trump’s tariff announcement, after he unveiled additional support for impacted sectors and a critical minerals reserve within an hour of the president’s speech.
But the prime minister also declined to answer whether Trump's tariffs would put the ASEAN region, which the government has attempted to deepen ties with, further into Beijing's orbit.
What they said: “These are uncertain times … It has implications for the global economy. What we are doing is preparing for that. We were the first country in the world to respond to the US decision, because we have prepared, because we are considered government, because we want to make sure that [for] Australians, the impact of this is minimised,” Albanese said.
