Treasurer talks down any retaliation from Australia if US tariffs introduced
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More news: Treasurer Jim Chalmers has confirmed the government is prepared to keep making a clear pitch to the US on why tariffs should not be on the table for Australia, but he appeared to water down any possible retaliatory tariffs on the US should these discussions fail.
Chalmers said he was “not being presumptuous” about the discussions that would take place in the coming period.
“But we do have a very strong case to make [that] our economic relationship is very different to the American economic relationship with Canada … or the countries that have been President Trump’s focus,” he said.
He said the trade relationship “can and should be” mutually beneficial and that would be the point the government will be pressing.
“We have had opportunities to put that view, we’ll have more opportunities," he said.
He said he didn’t want to pre-empt any retaliatory action should tariffs on Australia still occur.
“That’s not our preference and that’s not something we’re considering or contemplating philosophically,” he said, noting Australia is a trade-exposed economy and “not immune” to escalating trade tensions.
“We did a heap of work before the election to look at the possible consequences of trade tension and that has helped inform our approach,” he said.
He said it was a positive sign that senior government leaders “have had access already to senior decision makers in the [US] administration … to press our case”.
Speaking about Chinese tariffs and the impact on Australia, Chalmers said the government undertook work ahead of the US election on various scenarios. He said the broad conclusions from the modelling were that the main concerns are trade exposure and retaliatory measures.
He said the markets "are very jumpy" to both the initial announcement and the reaction from China to the tariffs. He said this was factored into considerations and discussions.
Chalmers did not provide any details about direct contact happening between Anthony Albanese and US President Donald Trump on tariffs, saying there was a discussion post-election and he would leave it up to the Prime Minister to provide updates on his own conversations.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers calls Trump tariff changes 'not surprising'
The news: Treasurer Jim Chalmers has expressed confidence that Australia will be able to navigate and manage the new tariff regime imposed by US President Donald Trump, saying meetings have already been held to manage the relationship.
Speaking at a press conference in Canberra on Tuesday morning, he indicated that Australia had a "very different" relationship with the US including in terms of trade than countries facing tariffs.
He said Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong had “already had discussions with her counterpart” in the US and this “augurs well for the relationship. Defence Minister Richard Marles will also have discussions soon, he said.
The context: Trump pressed pause on his tariffs on Mexico overnight, after the country agreed to measures to help stop fentanyl and other drug trafficking.
This morning, Trump also delayed tariffs on Canada after the country agreed to similar measures, according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
There are also reports that China is preparing a trade proposal to prevent further tariff hikes. Economists think Australia is less likely to be affected than other countries from a universal tariff imposed by the US.
What they said: “These are big developments out of the US, but not surprising developments. We saw these tariffs flagged in one way or another during the recent presidential election campaign,” Chalmers said.
“So we’re not surprised, but we are confident that we can navigate these new policies coming out of the US. When there’s a new administration in the US, we expect there to be new policies.
"... We're well placed, we're well prepared, and we've also got a very different economic relationship with the US than some of the countries which have been the focus of the last few days.
"The Americans run a very substantial trade surplus with us. They have done since the Truman administration, I think around 1952 that trade surplus with us is about two to one. They enjoy tariff free access to our markets, and the economic relationship is a very beneficial one for both sides."
The sources: Treasurer press conference, Justin Trudeau X post
