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6mo ago

Australia won’t retaliate against ‘unjustified’ US tariffs on steel and aluminum

apnews.com Australia won't retaliate against 'unjustified' US tariffs on steel and aluminum

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says U.S. tariffs on Australian steel and aluminum are unjustified, but his government will not retaliate with its own tariffs.

Australia won't retaliate against 'unjustified' US tariffs on steel and aluminum

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/40630983

Yeah, fuck this guy.

politics @lemmy.world

Australia won’t retaliate against ‘unjustified’ US tariffs on steel and aluminum

apnews.com /article/australia-tariffs-steel-aluminum-exemption-fe8ad2239a20c65d42c9249c05ae9303

Australia won’t retaliate against ‘unjustified’ US tariffs on steel and aluminum

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33 comments

Well, I guess between Canada and Australia, we’ll get to run the experiment on whether the Canuck or cuck approach is the right path.
- We're not retaliating with tariffs because nearly every mainstream economist has advised against it, including our own Treasury. Here's the quote from Steven Kennedy, treasury head, at a Senate estimates hearing on 26 February:
  For a medium-sized economy such as Australia, there is overwhelming evidence that the use of trade restrictions imposes costs on our consumers and businesses... If Australia were to impose tariffs, we would bear nearly all the cost, given our size and inability to affect the world prices of the goods we import.
  We would be shooting ourselves in the foot for the sake of what would essentially amount to little more than a symbolic gesture. We have other, more effective cards beyond tariffs.
  
  It sucks but it is what it is. Being an island nation dependant on imports, we don't have much weight to throw around without self destructing with our already fucked cost of living crisis.
- I can see what they're going for. We have a good history of exemptions, and getting another one would be a big win domestically with an election looming. You might think there's no way it will happen, but we do hold some cards, so to speak. I wouldn't be surprised if in more private negotiations they're threatening to close Pine Gap or cancel other cooperative military arrangements.
  Retaliatory tariffs just aren't our best option.
- if you look at the numbers, Canada's not that far from Australia. they've only instituted a tariff on like 10% of American imports
  
  Huh? Canada retaliated dollar for dollar.

Why do most people here seem to agree that Trump's tarrifs are stupid and brash, yet Australia's leadership deeming retaliatory tarrifs would be the same is 'gutless and weak'?
This is just smart leadership on Australia's part. We are a trade surplus partner with USA - meaning we import more from the US than we export, and importantly the targets of the tarriffs are only a small fraction of our exports to the US.
So, to create knee-jerk retaliatory tarrifs on the US for the sake of assisting a very small sliver of our exports would be truly shooting ourselves in the foot.
Have a look at our iron ore export leading markets and look for the USA to see how much we need them: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1149300/australia-leading-iron-ore-export-destinations/

Now add up ALL iron, steel aluminium, and 'ores' from this list of all Aus -> US exports: https://tradingeconomics.com/australia/exports/united-states
Sum total: ~$550mil of our $14.7billion exports to the US in 2024 were aluminium or steel or their ores. So a 25% tarrif on 3.7% of our exports? To a country we have a trade surplus with?
Its not worth us tariffing them, would hurt us far more than we gain, and our top economists agree - saying "retaliatory tarrifs would be an act of self-sabotage" https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-02/treasury-came-armed-with-a-warning-politicians-dragged-them-mud/104995418
- Because if Trump gets his way with tariffs he will move emboldened onto whatever his next stupid strategy is probably something like trying to dismantle Nato or whatever. However if all the world retaliates together to this bully then he will know what will happen next time he starts doing stupid shit. classic school yard bully situation in some sense. If the bullied is left alone and others don't react in unison then the bully will continue to bully.
  
  However if all the world retaliates together to this bully then he will know what will happen next time he starts doing stupid shit. classic school yard bully situation in some sense.
  You’re assuming Trump is capable of learning the types of lessons that schoolyard bullies learn.
  
  I'm Australia's regard, what the bully is doing is hurting himself more that his victim.
  If the bully punches himself in the face I'm not gonna punch myself in the face to prevent him being emboldened.
  As an aside, I don't know why people think that a market capitalism solution is what will stop Trump. The whole world won't just stop buying US-made products in unison and the NASDAQ drops precipitously and Trump announces "oh dear, i will stop doing a fascism and be a good boy from now on". This is a fantasy that does not map to the real world.
  Look at how tarrifs have affected Putin or Kim Jong Il: barely at all. Yes, their people suffer, but the leaders make new trade deals with different counties so their personal wealth in largely unaffected. Meanwhile they have big propaganda wins as it feeds right into their party narrative that the 'rest of the world is against us', 'the elites are conspiring at the WTO'. And those countries have been heavily targeted by tariff schemes for decades, how long you guys want Trump? Historically the only way authoritarian regimes are brought down is via internal conflict or war.
- Are they looking at any nontariff measures?
- And I don't wanna talk to an economist, y'all motherfuckers lyin' and gettin' me pissed

I would have preferred a harder stance from us on this tbh.

Why not?
If Europe, Canada, Mexico, China and Australia raise tarifs for the US it'll push itself into bankruptcy faster than you can say "Cheeto and Elmo are sad losers"

The Australian leadership is deathly afraid of the CCP. They will suck Trump's balls dry for the sake of national security.
- And do they actually think Trump will lift a finger to step in on their behalf?
  I'd give it 60/40 odds he just used the diversion to try to annex more land.
  
  I think they hope so, but other major US allies in the region do not seem so sure.

Gutless Australian Government

Just wait till we vote in that asshole Peter Dutton, he will just copy Trump and put tariffs on our allies too.
Were just as fucked as you guys are.

Clearly some countries didn’t get the memo. Guess it’s time to update the list of limp-wrist cunts for future reference. UK and Australia are really showing their true colours in all this.
- It's not our responsibility to damage our own economy for an empty symbolic gesture
  
  For sure. Every country for itself. Just remember that in the near future when China is parked on your coastline and causing problems for all of you. I’ll be writing my MP urging them to stay out of it since we trade with China and generally get along. Cheers.

So much for the democratic nations coalescing against evil - traitors.

The US imports more metal from Australia than we export. This will just shoot the US in the foot and will further incentivize the plan to build up Australian manufacturing. It makes perfect sense why they wouldn't retaliate.

Haha, pussies!
- *paussies

Certainly they can find better sources of metal than shipping it halfway around the world.

Come on Australia, hit us back please. We need to learn a lesson on a global scale.

33 comments