Australia is in a strong position to navigate dramatic shifts in global markets stemming from Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, Foreign Minister Penny Wong says.
The US president has announced a 25 per cent tariff on products from Canada and Mexico and 10 per cent for China.
Senator Wong, who recently met with her US counterpart Marco Rubio following Mr Trump’s inauguration in Washington, noted Australia had a trade surplus with the US.
“President Trump is implementing the agenda he said he would … obviously that’s going to affect global markets,” she told reporters in Canberra on Monday.
“We understand that and we also understand that we best approach this by our close engagement with the United States.”
“The US has a two-to-one trade surplus with Australia and every good and service from the US comes into our country free of tariffs.”
Australia managed to avoid tariffs under the first Trump administration after then-Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull negotiated an exemption.
It’s a yardstick the opposition is using to determine how successful the US relationship is managed under Labor.
“You need to be able to show that you can have a working relationship with this administration and that is something the coalition has done previously,” shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash told Nine’s Today Show.
Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck has warned against starting a trade war, saying Europe would retaliate with counter-tariffs.
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