A senior adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump has accused Australia of “killing [the U.S.] aluminium market” after tariffs were ordered on some metal imports.
On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order to impose a 25% tariff on aluminium and steel imports.
Following a call with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Trump said he would “give great consideration” to an exemption for Australia.
However, the Trump administration’s latest comments raise doubts about how this would work.
So, what could Trump’s metal tariffs mean for Australia?
Tariffs
A ‘tariff’ is a tax on imports. It’s applied to foreign-made goods brought into another country, and paid by the importer.
For example: Country A and Country B make the same product. Country A wants its citizens to buy its own version of the product, not Country B’s, so it applies a tariff.
Importers in Country A now pay the tax when they bring in B’s product, and pass on the cost to consumers, making this version of the product more expensive to buy.
Steel and aluminium
Trump has ordered 25% tariffs on imports of aluminium and steel to come into effect next month.
It echoes a similar order he made under his first presidency. At the time, Australia negotiated an exemption.
At a press conference, Trump said the tariffs were part of a move to boost domestic metal manufacturing.
“We’ll bring back our industry and we’ll bring back our jobs,” Trump said. He added there would be no exception for any country.
Australia
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In 2024, the U.S. imported around $US270 million of Australian aluminium, and about $US400 million of Australian steel.
Ahead of the executive order, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke with Trump over the phone to raise concerns about the tariffs.
Albanese confirmed afterwards that an exemption for Australia was “under consideration”.
In light of the remarks, Trump told reporters in the White House that Australia was “one of the only countries” where the U.S. has a trade surplus. This means Australia buys more American goods than the U.S. buys from Australia.
However, a senior trade adviser to Trump named Peter Navarro this week accused Australia of “killing” the American aluminium market.
Navarro was a key figure in Trump’s similar tariffs in 2018.
“Australia is just crushing, crushing, with the help of China, our aluminium sector,” Navarro said.
Other countries
Australia is not a major exporter of aluminium to the U.S. compared to other trading partners.
For example, in the year to February, the U.S. imported three million tonnes of aluminium from Canada and 350,000 tonnes from the United Arab Emirates.
Australia exported 90,000 tonnes of aluminium to the U.S. during this time.
Response
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the Government was aware of the “complexity” of Australia’s relationship with China, but that “there are opportunities as well. And I’m sure American friends understand that.”
Shadow Foreign Minister David Coleman told Sky News: “We’ve all got to... hope the Government gets this right.”
Coleman said the Government “should” secure an exemption because “the Coalition was able to manage it” when it was in power.
