Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has held firm in the face of new tariffs from the United States, saying he may use "dispute resolution" powers in Australia's free trade agreement with the States.
President Donald Trump announced a broad range of new tariffs, as part of what he dubbed ‘Liberation Day’, including a baseline 10% tariff on Australian exports to the U.S.
Just days before these tariff announcements were expected, Albanese took a firm stance on a new list of grievances from the U.S. over trade, saying that changes to biosecurity laws, Australian pharmaceuticals and the News Media Bargaining Code weren't going to happen on his watch.
Speaking to the press today, Albanese has seemingly stuck to his guns, outlining a five-point election plan to handle the tariffs, and a threat of dispute resolution mechanisms for Australia's free trade agreement with the U.S.
"The Australian people have every right to view this action by the Trump administration as undermining our free and fair trading relationship," Albanese said.
"Our existing Free Trade Agreement with the United States contains dispute resolution mechanisms. We want to resolve this issue without resorting to using these."
He also confirmed that Australia would not seek to reciprocate the “totally unwarranted” tariffs, saying it would be a "race to the bottom that leads to higher prices and slower growth."
However, as the nation is in the midst of a campaign trail ahead of the federal election in early May, Albanese has outlined what his government would take as next steps, if re-elected.
He promised to strengthen an anti-dumping regime to help protect sectors such as steel, aluminium and manufacturing against “unfair competition”, pledged $50 million to sectors impacted by the new tariffs and the establishment of a new Economic Resilience Program.
This would be done through the existing National Reconstruction Fund and provide $1 billion in zero-interest loans, allowing “firms to capitalise on new export opportunities”.
The fourth tier above Albanese's plan would be encouragement for people to “buy Australian” but backed by a Labor government doing the same and putting Australian businesses to the “front of the queue for government procurement and contracts".
Finally, he said that his government would establish a critical minerals strategic reserve, but was coy on the details, promising he'd have "more to say on this over coming weeks.”
