United States President Donald Trump fleetingly praised Australia during a White House event, amid hopes he will grant an exemption for exporters from looming tariffs.
Trump made the remark at a Black History Month reception on Thursday (local time), where golf champions Tiger Woods and Australian Adam Scott — both player directors on the PGA Tour's policy board — and commissioner Jay Monahan were in attendance.
The trio had previously taken part in a meeting at the White House with Trump and chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan to try and resolve .
Trump thanked Woods for attending before acknowledging Scott.
"Adam is, as Tiger will tell you, one of the greatest players and one of the great modern players," he said.
"Even though he doesn't quite come from our country, he sort of does, right? He's here a lot. He comes from another nice place like Australia, and they've been very good. Very, very good to us."
Trump's celebration of Black History Month contrasted with several executive orders he's signed targeting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, including one that directed federal agencies to terminate DEI programs and encouraged private companies to do the same.
The actions have been met with sharp criticism from civil rights organisations and racial justice advocates who say DEI programs have helped address historical inequities impacting Black Americans and people of colour in the workplace and other aspects of American life.
Trump's brief praise of Australia comes against the backdrop of a proposal by his administration that would hit both allies and competitors in what he says will raise revenue and remedy trade imbalances.
The federal government is particularly concerned about proposed . These are due to take effect in March, and similar to what was granted during Trump's first term.
Tariff threat 'concerning', but RBA expects impact would be 'relatively small'
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said last week that the "concern" for Australia was that tariffs ran the risk of pushing up inflation and slowing economic growth.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has warned that if inflation rises, .
But Sarah Hunter, the RBA's assistant economic governor, told a parliamentary committee hearing on Friday that the impact of US tariffs is factored into the central bank's forecasts.
Australia's gross domestic product (GDP) will be impacted negatively by US' 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium, but the central bank assures it will be "relatively small".
"We're not as exposed as other countries," Hunter told the parliamentary inquiry.
"Tariffs can have really dislocating impacts in the short term, and that's what can generate these big downturns in their economy and have implications both for GDP and for inflation.
"Here, our trade patterns are different."
Australia has relatively low tariffs and trade barriers, and in the past, the exchange rate has been a "substantial" buffer. This means the impact of the US tariffs, which come into effect in March, depends on how it plays out with other countries.
The RBA is expecting a further escalation with China, but if China can no longer export to the US, they might choose to engage in cheaper trade elsewhere, and Australia could benefit.
The impact of the tariffs on inflation is unclear, but the central bank's governor warned uncertainties and unexpected strength plagued the economic outlook.
— With reporting by The Australian Associated Press and Reuters
