US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has recently critiqued Australia for allegedly “dumping” low-priced aluminium in the American market, a situation which has triggered a wave of political urgency among Australian lawmakers to seek exemptions from US steel and aluminium tariffs. During an interview with Fox Business, Lutnick expressed his intention to curb such practices from various countries, including Japan and China, stating, “We’re not going to stand for Australia doing a lot of aluminium at below cost.”
Australia’s contribution to US steel and aluminium imports is minimal, comprising roughly 0.2 per cent of its total export value. The Australian government, under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, failed to secure an exemption from these tariffs, a development that has drawn criticism from opposition leader Peter Dutton. Dutton has suggested that Albanese’s handling of the matter indicates that he is out of his depth and blamed him for not standing up for Australia’s interests effectively. He stated, “It’s up to our prime minister to stand up for our country’s interests,” alluding to the past success of a Coalition government in negotiating a similar exemption during Trump’s previous term, although it took about a year to achieve.
Dutton has pledged that, if elected Prime Minister, he would prioritise negotiations with the White House to secure a deal that would safeguard Australian jobs and industries. He also highlighted that Albanese was the only leader from the Quad nations not to have visited the US since Trump’s election, which opponents argue may have limited his ability to effectively advocate for Australia. In contrast, Foreign Minister Penny Wong has defended the government’s approach, suggesting that personal visits may not necessarily yield results, particularly as other Quad members, such as India and Japan, have also faced similar tariffs without exemptions.
Wong pointed out that the Trump administration’s current stance arises from a belief that it made errors by granting exemptions during its first term. She echoed Albanese’s sentiment that the tariffs are “unjustified” and confirmed the government’s commitment to ongoing negotiations to resolve the issue.
As the situation develops, it remains to be seen how Australian leadership will respond to these economic pressures and whether they can successfully negotiate exemptions from tariffs that have significant implications for their aluminium and steel exports.