‘Not the act of a friend’: PM hits back at Trump tariffs
The federal government has slammed, but won’t retaliate against a 10 per cent trade slug on beef exports under Trump’s ‘liberation day’ plan.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has railed against Donald Trump’s new trade slug on Australian beef, declaring it’s “not the act of a friend”.
The US President singled out Aussie beef in a long list of complaints about America’s trading partners early on Thursday, as he announced 10 per cent tariffs on multiple Australian exports.
The levies will come into effect from midnight US time (later Thursday AEDT), after Trump revealed his plan at the White House, as part of his so-called “liberation day”.
“Australians … they’re wonderful people, wonderful everything, but they ban American beef,” he said.
“Yet we imported $US3 billion of Australian beef from them just last year alone.
“They won’t take any of our beef, they don’t want it because they don’t want it to affect their farmers.”
Albanese reacted within minutes, from the election campaign trail in Melbourne. He threatened to use “dispute resolution” powers in Australia’s free trade agreement with the US. He said the trade hit, while not unexpected, was unwarranted.
“The Australian people have every right to view this action by the Trump administration as undermining our free and fair trading relationship,” he said.
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“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 rejected Trump’s assertion that Australia applied anything equivalent to a 10 per cent tariff on US goods, and said the imposition of tariffs was “unjustified”, “have no basis in logic”, and “not the act of a friend”.
“Today’s decision will add to uncertainty in the global economy and it will push up costs for American households,” he said.
“It is the American people who will pay the biggest price for these unjustified tariffs.
“This is why our government will not be seeking to impose reciprocal tariffs.”
LIBERATION DAY RECIPROCAL TARIFFS 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/ODckbUWKvO
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 2, 2025
Trump, who will sign an executive order later on Thursday, said the new tariff rate varied, depending on the country. Most were around 25 per cent, but some were much higher.
“This is one of the most important days in my opinion in American history. It’s our declaration of economic independence,” he said in his “liberation day” address.
Australia’s rate of 10 per cent is in line with the baseline announced by Trump for this round and a better outcome than expected.
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Beef farmer Phillip Rattray had anticipated higher returns on his products, but the US decision made halfway across the world could change his fortunes.
Rattray’s farm in north-east Tasmania is three times larger than the next beef producer. He sends about 4000 cattle to multinational beef processor JBS Swift every year to export overseas.
Thursday’s announcement left Rattray extremely concerned.
After stock shortages from Queensland flooding, he had been expecting a 50c/kg increase, equivalent to an extra $150 for a 300-kilogram animal.
“We were looking at a bright future … as the [beef] prices going into America are very high at the moment but … these tariffs … will reduce the price,” Rattray said.
“I just can’t understand why he’s doing it.”
He said the tariffs would also hurt American consumers, who buy massive amounts of brining beef and smallgoods.
“The US are a very big customer because they’re in a rebuild phase after drought conditions,” he said.
“The people in America will have to pay a lot more money.”
Australia exports $3.3 billion of meat and $1.6 billion in pharmaceuticals to the US per year.
The peak body representing red meat producers called for calm.
Australian Meat Industry Council chief executive Tim Ryan said Australian beef producers had a critical role in feeding American consumers as there was a shortfall of meat, which wouldn’t change overnight.
“The global demand for high-quality Australian red meat continues to grow, and our supply chain is well-positioned to respond to shifts in the international trade landscape,” he said.
On Wednesday, Albanese refused to rule out taking the US to the World Trade Organisation, but also noted Australia’s exports to the US represented less than 5 per cent of its global goods exports.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who has argued he would better be able to deal with Trump, is expected to respond to the tariff hit later on Thursday.
He will campaign in Western Australia on Thursday.
