<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>341699</docID> <postdate>2025-04-03 09:47:34</postdate> <headline>Trump’s tariffs on Australia have ‘no basis in logic’</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-341700" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/20230706001817802777-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" /></p> <caption>Donald Trump has singled out Aussie beef in a long list of complaints against US trading partners. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Kat Wong</strong> and <strong>Ethan James</strong> in Canberra</span></p> <p><strong>Australia will bolster its industries and take its export business elsewhere, as the prime minister slammed a new round of blanket US tariffs as "totally unwarranted".</strong></p> <p>President Donald Trump singled out Australian beef in a long list of complaints about America's trading partners, ahead of announcing 10 per cent tariffs on all Australian goods sent to the US.</p> <p>This and other global levies will take effect from midnight US time (later Thursday AEDT) after he laid out his "Liberation Day" plan at the White House.</p> <p>While the tariffs on Australian goods weren't unexpected, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said they were "totally unwarranted".</p> <p>"The administration's tariffs have no basis in logic and they go against the basis of our two nations' partnership," he told reporters in Melbourne.</p> <p>"This is not the act of a friend."</p> <p>The US tariffs vary depending on country and while most were around 25 per cent, Australia's rate is on the 10 per cent baseline.</p> <p>"No one has got a better deal... that doesn't mean it's a good thing," Mr Albanese said.</p> <p>Mr Trump has also slapped 10 per cent tariffs on the Heard and McDonald Islands, a barren and uninhabited Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean.</p> <p>But Norfolk Island, another Australian territory in the Pacific Ocean, has been slugged with a 29 per cent tariff.</p> <p>While Australia has ruled out reciprocal tariffs, Mr Albanese also gave assurances it won't just bend to the US.</p> <p>Neither will the government Americanise its health system, undermine its media bargaining code or weaken its biosecurity measures – which impose trade barriers on US beef and other American produce to prevent disease or contamination.</p> <p>Instead, Australia will strengthen its anti-dumping regime to protect domestic steel, aluminium and manufacturing to combat unfair competition.</p> <p>Labor will also provide $50 million to affected sectors, particularly bodies like the National Farmers' Federation.</p> <p>Australia has already earmarked $20 million for its "buy Australian" campaign, which encourages consumers to buy locally, and the government will prioritise local businesses for procurement and contracts.</p> <p>Meanwhile, Australia's trade relationships will be diversified. The government recently signed a new trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates and continues to pursue an agreement with the European Union.</p> <p>Australia's biggest exports to the US are financial services, gold, sheep and goat meat, transportation services and vaccines, as well as beef.</p> <p>"Australians... they're wonderful people, wonderful everything, but they ban American beef," Mr Trump said at the White House.</p> <p>"Yet we imported $US3 billion of Australian beef from them just last year alone.</p> <p>"They won't take any of our beef, they don't want it because they don't want it to affect their farmers."</p> <p>Beef farmer Phillip Rattray had been anticipating higher returns on his products, but the decision made halfway across the world could change his fortunes.</p> <p>Mr Rattray's farm in northeast Tasmania is three times larger than the next beef producer, and he offloads about 4000 cattle to multinational beef processor JBS Swift every year to export overseas.</p> <p>After stock shortages from Queensland flooding, he had been expecting a 50c/kg increase, equivalent to an extra $150 for a 300kg animal.</p> <p>"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," Mr Rattray told AAP.</p> <p>The farmer warns tariffs won't just hurt Aussie farmers but also American consumers who purchase massive amounts of brining beef and smallgoods.</p> <p>Australian Meat Industry Council chief executive Tim Ryan said Australian beef producers play a critical role in feeding American consumers.</p> <p>Australia exports $3.3 billion of meat and $1.6 billion in pharmaceuticals to the US per year.</p> </body>