In Australia, 25% tariffs on aluminum and steel have caused a political and media storm.
Coalition Shadow Trade Minister Kevin Hogan says Australia should use its vast and important mineral stores to continue negotiations with the Trump administration on tariff exemptions.
Hogan said Australia has more leverage to negotiate with the US compared to years ago.
“There’s a $800 million orcascheck that (Defense Minister) Richard Marless just threw the table as part of his contract with Orcas,” he added. “So I actually believe that I have more leverage points with the US than I did when I got the exemption a few years ago.”
MP’s comments come after Graham Young, executive director of the Australian Institute of Progress, made the proposal.
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These minerals are in high demand worldwide and are used in a variety of modern technologies, including magnets, EVs, smartphones and fighter jets.
US Australian ambassador Kevin Rudd reportedly tried to use key minerals in a meeting with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, but to no avail.
However, Minister Shadow Hogan claims that Albanese will board the plane and “meet the American leader.”
“I think there are some great things we can say, but it’s very important that it’s Trump’s work and that our leader hasn’t found the will to start over,” he said.
Whether or not to retaliate?
Meanwhile, Opposition leader Peter Dutton said Australia should not consider retaliation against the US, such as Canada or the European Union.
Dutton said he is more concerned about the second round of tariffs and said there are “concern signs” at this point.
“If the government doesn’t wear skates, we’ll be applying more tariffs to Australia,” Dutton told reporters on the Central Coast of New South Wales.
Dutton continued his criticism of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, noting that the coalition was able to negotiate with the previous Trump administration eight months later.
“This prime minister can’t even make a call, and I don’t really agree with what President Trump did. We (the liberal government) actually rolled up our sleeves. We negotiated with the Trump administration and received the exemption,” Dutton said.
“There is no free trade in the US. We are in stupid trade. Trump posted on Truth Social on March 13th.
Former Labor Minister Bill Shorten, now deputy prime minister of Canberra University, suggested that Australia “needs to criticize Trump for leading the free world as if it were a reality television show.
“This is not an argument that Australia wants to participate, but I’m sure of this government and I think all reasonable Australians will say at some point, “You push us, we push you.” ”
The minister says US trade is still small compared to China.
Meanwhile, Labor and Trade Minister Don Farrell said the United States had “major self-harm” and focused on the scale of Australia’s trade with China.
However, he warned about the next tariffs starting April 1, saying Australia would talk to American counterparts and “try to convince them that they are heading in the wrong direction.”
“Well, we sell a lot of produce to the US. We sell a lot of medicines to the US. We have $30 billion worth of products that we sell to the US,” he said.
“We don’t want any of our products that are not yet subject to tariffs to be subject to tariffs, and that’s the argument that we’re throwing at the US, and that’s the argument that we continue to impose on the US.”
