Trump rules out Australian steel, aluminum tariff exemptions

Australia has failed to secure an exemption from US steel and aluminum tariffs despite an extensive lobbying campaign by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government, in a blow to ties between the longtime allies.

White House spokesman Kush Desai confirmed in a statement that the planned levies would come into effect from midnight on Wednesday, with no exemptions for any US trading partners.

Albanese told reporters after the announcement that the Trump administration’s actions were “entirely unjustified” and an act of “economic self-harm” on the part of the US. But, he added, Australia would not take any reciprocal measures.

“This is against the spirit of our two nations’ enduring friendship and fundamentally at odds with the benefits that our economic partnership has delivered over more than 70 years,” Albanese said Wednesday in Sydney. Australia will continue to advocate for an exemption, he added.

President Donald Trump had told the Australian prime minister during talks by telephone last month that he would consider an exemption. Albanese, who must hold an election by May 17, had been under intense pressure from local lawmakers and executives to secure a carve out for Australia’s exports.

Albanese said after the announcement that he would be working with the steel and aluminum industries to diversify their exports, encouraging citizens to buy domestically produced products.

“Friends need to act in a way that reinforces to our respective populations the fact that we are friends. This is not a friendly act,” Albanese said Wednesday.

During Trump’s first term, Canberra undertook months of painstaking negotiations with Washington to secure an exemption. However, then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Bloomberg this week that he believed it would be “a lot harder” for Australia to get a similar deal this time.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt had told reporters earlier that Trump had decided against giving an exemption, according to Australian media reports.

“He considered it, and considered against it,” she told the Australian Broadcasting Corp., referring to Trump.

(By Ben Westcott)