① Australian Prime Minister Albanese criticized USA President Trump for imposing a 10% tariff on allies, stating that it is not the behavior of a friend, and asserted that Australia will not impose equivalent tariffs on the USA; ② The Australian government will seek to negotiate with the USA, aiming for Trump to cancel the tariffs on Australia.
According to a report by the Financial Association on April 3 (Editor: Liu Rui), on Thursday local time, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated that the decision by USA President Trump to impose a 10% tariff on its allies is not the act of a friend, but he ruled out the possibility of Australia imposing corresponding tariffs on the USA.
This is not a friend's behavior.
On Wednesday Eastern Time, the USA issued an executive order to announce the imposition of so-called 'equivalent tariffs' on major trading partners. It is worth mentioning that Trump specifically mentioned Australian beef while making statements about tariffs outside the White House.
Last year, due to a decline in domestic beef production in the USA, Australia's beef exports to the USA surged, reaching 4 billion Australian Dollars. On the other hand, since 2003, due to the discovery of BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) in American cattle, Australia has banned the import of fresh beef products from the USA.
'They don't eat our beef. They don't want to because they don't want it to affect their farmers, you know, I don’t blame them, but we are doing the same thing now,' Trump said during the announcement of the tariff decision in the White House Rose Garden.
Albanese stated that Trump did not ban Australian beef, but imposed a 10% tariff on all Australian goods entering the USA - this is equivalent to the USA's benchmark tariff on all imported goods.
'The (Trump) administration's tariffs have no logical basis and violate the foundation of our bilateral partnership. This is not the behavior of a friend,' Albanese expressed.
But he also added that Australia would not impose reciprocal tariffs, as this would increase prices for Australian households: "We will not participate in a race to the bottom that leads to rising prices and slower economic growth."
The Indo-Pacific region is the most severely affected.
This Thursday, the Australian stock market fell by 0.94%, which is relatively limited compared to other markets in the Asia-Pacific region. In contrast, Vietnam's VN Index dropped by 6.7%, marking the largest decline since 2001; Japan's Nikkei 225 Index closed down by 2.77%, having at one point fallen over 4%; South Korea's KOSPI Index fell by 0.77%.
Australian officials stated that countries in the Indo-Pacific region are among the most severely impacted by US tariffs. He stated:
"There is no doubt that the (US) response to a range of issues, whether in terms of climate change action or trade actions, will affect the strategic competition in the (Indo-Pacific) region."
Will seek exemptions from Trump.
After Trump announced the tariff decision, Australian opposition leader Peter Dutton criticized Albanese for failing to secure tariff exemptions, stating: "This is a bad day for our country."
David Jochinke, president of the National Farmers Federation of Australia, stated that Trump's tariffs are "a disappointing setback for our country and the global economy."
Albanese stated that Australia will seek to negotiate with the USA, hoping that Trump can lift tariffs on Australian goods.
He also stated that Australia will provide financial support to affected Australian exporters to help them find new markets, including offering 1 billion Australian Dollars (approximately 4.616 billion yuan) in interest-free loans, and instructing government departments to "purchase Australian commodities."
In the total export volume of Australian commodities, exports to the USA account for less than 5%, while exports to China make up a quarter of Australia's total exports.
Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell stated that Australia will open new export markets in India and the Middle East and seek to restart free trade negotiations with the European Union.
Last year, trade negotiations between Australia and the European Union regarding Australian beef were stalled. But now, "the world has changed," Farrell stated.
Editor/danial
