A key member of the Trump administration has lashed Australia as he doubled down on the President’s message after massive tariffs on steel and aluminium were imposed.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been a significant negotiator with Australia as the Albanese government advocated for an exemption from 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.
US Trade Ambassador Jamieson Greer and Mr Lutnick met with Australian Ambassador to the United States Kevin Rudd about 6am on Wednesday (Australian time) where the former prime minister was informed Australia was not getting an exemption.
Mr Lutnick appeared on Fox Business on Wednesday local time where he accused Australia and other countries of “dumping” which is the practice of exporting products at a lower price in the foreign market than what they are sold for in the domestic market.
While considered a form of price discrimination, dumping is legal under the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
“You’ve got dumpers in the rest of the world. Japan dumps steel, China dumps steel. What that means is they make it, they over produce and they sell it dirt cheap to try to drive our guys out of business,” he said.
“The President is here to protect American workers, he’s here to protect American industry, we’re going to stop that nonsense and bring steel here.”
“We’re not going to stand for China dumping, Japan dumping, Australia does a lot of aluminium at below cost. I mean, this has got to end, and the president is on it, and he’s protecting America.”
The criticism of Australia has come after it emerged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was unable to get in touch with President Trump for a second phone call, after an earlier discussion on tariffs in February.
The tariff policy came into action at 3pm AEDT on Wednesday.
No countries were spared from the US policy.
After the decision was announced not to spare Australia, Mr Albanese said it was “entirely unjustified” and “not a friendly act”.
He made further comments on the move while speaking to ABC Sydney on Thursday, maintaining optimism a deal could yet be reached after former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull managed to negotiate an exemption from tariffs during Trump’s first term in 2018.
“The last time around, it took many months of negotiations and lobbying in order to achieve an outcome. We’ll continue to advocate over coming days, weeks, and if need be months as well, to put our strong position,” he said.
“The United States has a range of decisions that it seeks from Australia as well, and will continue to negotiate in good faith.
The Prime Minister said while Australia would not act in a retaliatory manner like Canada and the European Union have, he encouraged people to buy Australian products.
“I would urge Australians, if they’re in a local shop, to look to buy Australian – that’s the one way that consumers can assist to create jobs here and support our local industries,” Mr Albanese said.
