Australia spared Trump tariff letter as Ley says Albanese should secure special deal
from US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth for Australia to boost its military spending from about 2 per cent of GDP to 3.5 per cent.
The United States Trade Representative, the office primarily responsible for trade matters, sent a letter to countries asking them to provide their best offer for a trade deal by Wednesday, US time. The Trump administration confirmed the missive, first reported by Reuters.
The letter suggests fresh urgency from the Trump administration as it looks to settle trade deals with partners before July 8, when the 90-day “pause” on Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs expires.
An Australian government spokeswoman said Australia did not receive the letter because it was only sent to nations with a higher tariff rate than the baseline 10 per cent rate.
“Australia is in the lowest ‘baseline’ tariff tier of 10 per cent,” she said. “As such, the US administration has confirmed Australia has not been sent a letter.
“Trade Minister Farrell met with his US counterpart today in Paris and pressed for the removal of unjustified tariffs imposed on Australian goods.”
The US president signed an executive order raising metals tariffs from 25 to 50 per cent overnight.
The only nation singled out was Britain, which will continue to be levied a 25 per cent tariff after Starmer struck a deal with Trump following a free trade pact agreed in principle between the countries.
Metals tariffs on imports from Britain will remain at the previous 25 per cent as the nations continue to negotiate up to a July 9 cut-off. In early April, Trump declared “liberation day” for America by instituting double-digit tariffs on countries around the world, but suspended them after markets dropped precipitously.
Ley told this masthead: “We note that the United Kingdom has been able to secure an exemption from the latest American steel tariffs and we stand ready to work with the Albanese government to ensure Australia can achieve the same outcome.
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“The Coalition wants the government to succeed here because that is in our national interest.”
Ley’s comments are more conciliatory than those of her predecessor Peter Dutton, who claimed repeatedly during the recent federal election campaign that he could secure a better tariff deal than Labor if he were elected. The Turnbull government secured an exemption on metals tariffs in Trump’s first term, as did other allies, but the US administration has been far less inclined to give exemptions this time.
In a statement, Trump said he had decided to “provide different treatment” to the UK after a deal that was struck between Washington and London in May.
The 50 per cent tariff rate more widely is due to come into force from 12.01am Washington, DC, time on Wednesday.
Marghanita Johnson, chief executive of the Australian Aluminium Council, said this week the industry was working to understand the impact the recently revised aluminium specific tariff will have on Australia’s aluminium trade.
“A key concern is the potential for the distortion of international trade flows, which disrupt efficient market operations and increase the risk of trade diversion,” Johnson said.
The UK is a relatively minor player in aluminium exports, trading about 22,000 tonnes of aluminium into the US a year, well below Australia’s export of 82,000 tonnes last year which made it the eighth largest source of aluminium imports to the US.
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