Key Points
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says March budget will include extra support for a "buy Australian" campaign.
- US hit Australia with 25 per cent tariffs on imported steel and aluminium.
- US secretary of commerce says Donald Trump is "protecting America".
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australians will be incentivised to buy local products after hefty 25 per cent tariffs were imposed by the United States on steel and aluminium imports — a move the US commerce secretary has defended "fundamental for national security".
Albanese who labelled the tariffs "entirely unjustified" as they came into effect on Wednesday, was on Thursday morning asked during an interview with ABC Radio if Australians should boycott US goods amid anecdotal evidence citizens of some countries,
He said the federal budget — set to be delivered on 25 March — will include extra support for a "buy Australian" campaign.
"I would urge Australians, if they're in a local shop, to look to buy Australian," he told ABC Radio.
"That's the one way that consumers can assist to create jobs here and to support our local industries."
Australia had tried to negotiate an exemption from the tariffs similar to that granted during US President Donald Trump's first term. Albanese told ABC Radio negotiations would continue and that it previously took months for one to be issued.
Earlier, deputy prime minister Richard Marles rejected hitting the US with retaliatory tariffs despite them being "disappointing in the context of our relationship with the US".
He told ABC Radio National on Thursday that for the US, the tariffs were an "act of self-harm" but retaliatory measures would not be "in the interest of the Australian economy or Australian workers".
Marles said: "This is not going to do the American economy any good, and we’re not about to engage in harming the Australian economy."
Like Australia, the United Kingdom, which is also affected by the blanket US tariffs, has rejected tit-for-tat measures.
But Canada, which is the biggest foreign supplier of steel and aluminum to the US, has announced a further C$29.8 billion ($32.8 billion) in retaliatory tariffs, as its trade war with the US deepens.
US secretary of commerce Howard Lutnick defended the Trump administration's move in an interview with Fox Business on Wednesday, describing steel and aluminium as "fundamental for our national security".
He said: "We can't be in a war and rely on steel and aluminium from some other country. National security rises above all other things."
Lutnick criticised Australia, saying: "You've got dumpers in the rest of the world. [...] They overproduce and they sell it dirt-cheap. [...] Australia does a lot of aluminum at below cost. I mean, this has got to end, and the president is on it, and he's protecting America."
Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro made a similar claim last week.
Australian government sources reportedly told the Australian Financial Review they were not aware of concerns from US companies about subsidised or dumped aluminium.
— With reporting by the Australian Associated Press
