Australia has been hit with a tariff of at least 10% on all exports to the US, as Donald Trump announced his new sweeping global trade regime.
Trump cited “trade barriers” such as Australia’s biosecurity laws – singling out a ban on the import of US beef – as the reason for what he called a “reciprocal tariff”.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the measure “totally unwarranted”, but said the nation would not introduce its own tariffs – also known as import taxes – in return.
The 10% dealt to Australia was the “baseline” measure, with the most severe tariffs – of up 49% – hitting countries like China, Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia.
“President Trump referred to reciprocal tariffs. A reciprocal tariff would be zero, not 10%,” Albanese said at a press conference on Thursday.
“The administration’s tariffs have no basis in logic and they go against the basis of our two nation’s partnership. This is not the act of a friend,” he added.
Trump’s new trade policy has hit the start of Australia’s closely battled election campaign, where the cost of living will be a key voting issue.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton said the tariffs were a “bad day” for Australia and would be a “significant impost” on jobs across the nation.
He also said the new tariffs were a reflection on Albanese’s relationship with Trump – who the prime minister had unsuccessfully been trying to organise a phone call with ahead of the decision.
“I just don’t think the prime minister has the strength or the ability to stand up to a situation that is unacceptable to us,” Dutton said.
The new measures come only weeks after President Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium imports.
However, the prime minister said Australia would not be retaliating on US goods.
“We will not join a race to the bottom that leads to higher prices and slower growth,” he said.
But he warned the tariffs would have consequences for how Australians see ties with the US, and that the country would resort to formal “dispute resolution mechanisms” contained in its free trade agreement with the US if necessary.
During his “Liberation Day” speech, Trump pointed to Australia’s ban on fresh beef from the US – which was introduced in 2003, after cases of mad cow disease, an infectious neurological illness, were discovered in North America.
“They’re wonderful people and wonderful everything, but they ban American beef,” he said.
“They don’t want it because they don’t want it to affect their farmers.”
“I don’t blame them, but we’re doing the same thing right now,” Trump added.
The tariffs have also drawn an angry response from Australia’s National Farmers’ Federation (NFF), who expressed “profound disappointment”.
“This decision is a disappointing step backward for our nations and for the global economy,” NFF President David Jochinke said.
The NFF said the US’s decision created “unnecessary uncertainty”, but vowed to work closely with the federal government to seek a resolution.
Along with its biosecurity rules, Australia’s subsidised medicines scheme and laws requiring foreign tech companies to pay local media for news had drawn the US’s ire in recent tariff discussions.
Albanese earlier this week said those issues were non-negotiable: “I continue to stand up for Australia and have said very clearly we won’t compromise and negotiate on our PBS [Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme], on our biosecurity, on our media bargaining code.”
The US is one of Australia’s most important trading relationships, raking fifth for exports. China, however, dwarfs all of Australia’s other trade partners – in 2023-24, A$212.7bn (£102.2bn, $133.4) was exported to the Asian superpower.
In comparison, last year, Australia exported $37.5bn in goods and services to the US. Business services were the biggest sector at $6.2bn, followed by intellectual property charges and beef. In the same year, Australia imported $88.2bn in goods and services from the US.
