Australia is uniquely vulnerable to the Trump trade war
Australia has no framework for analysing, debating and informing the public about the threat to the traditional sources of our prosperity from the security demands of Donald Trump’s trade war.
The most consequential US presidential jolt to the global trade and financial system since Richard Nixon broke the greenback’s gold standard in 1971 came with a now-familiar amateur-hour execution from the Trump White House.
Contrary to what Donald Trump had suggested, calculations of the “reciprocal” tariff to be slapped on each of America’s trading partners had nothing to do with trade barriers to US exports.
Michael StutchburyEditor-at-largeMichael Stutchbury is editor-at-large. He is in his fourth decade of writing for and editing national newspapers. After nearly six years as editor of The Australian, he returned to the Financial Review as editor-in-chief (2011-2024). Email Michael at mstutchbury@afr.com
