Australia looks set to be a victim of the United States' trade war, with the White House confirming Aussie manufacturers are not exempt from tariffs on aluminium and steel. Donald Trump has announced no country will be exempt from the 25 percent levy that is due to come into effect later today.
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00:00Yeah, I was here at the White House in the private office of Donald Trump's press secretary
00:08that Australia's hopes of a last minute reprieve from the sweeping 25% tariffs on all aluminium
00:15and steel imports into the United States were publicly extinguished.
00:20Caroline Levitt said yes, Donald Trump had given great consideration to Australia's request
00:26for an exemption, but he considered it and considered against it.
00:31She says that it's all about America first steel, and that if Australian manufacturers
00:36want to be exempt from tariffs, they should move their production to the United States.
00:42I then subsequently caught up with Donald Trump's trade advisor, Peter Navarro.
00:47He is seen as one of the architects behind Donald Trump's pro tariff economic policy.
00:53He accused Australia of abusing the exemptions that we received in the first Trump term.
01:00He says Australia, along with some other friendly countries, effectively bit the hand that fed
01:06them in the way they acted with that exemption.
01:09And this was how he explained the logic behind these sweeping tariffs.
01:15So what the lesson from the first Trump tariffs has been is that exemptions to anybody are
01:25counterproductive.
01:26They don't work for the American people.
01:30And the same thing is true of product exclusions.
01:35There is a sliver of hope for the Australian government, though.
01:38Peter Navarro went on to say that yes, the current policy is no exclusions, no exemptions,
01:44but that's just until the president might change his mind.
01:48One country that has experienced the whiplash of Donald Trump's changing mind when it comes
01:53to tariffs is the United States' northern neighbour, Canada.
01:56Now, Donald Trump really, since he took back office in January, has consistently threatened
02:02sweeping broad tariffs on Canada.
02:06He has pushed deadlines back repeatedly, but Canada will be hit with this 25% tariff on
02:12aluminium and steel.
02:14We then saw the Ontario premier.
02:16This is the biggest Canadian province, got the biggest population.
02:21He was threatening to put a 25% tariff on energy exports to the United States.
02:26It exports to three American states.
02:28Donald Trump then said, well, if you're going to do that, I'm going to hit you with a 50%
02:32tariff on aluminium and steel.
02:35Now we've seen the Ontario premier back away from that threat, and Donald Trump likewise
02:40has moved away from that promise.
02:42Canada will still receive the same 25% tariff on aluminium and steel that Australia is receiving,
02:47but they won't receive double.
02:49But yes, despite the threat that America may now be heading towards recession, as some
02:55economists are starting to forecast, Donald Trump still says all systems go on this trade
03:01war.