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Trade

Today

An LNG tanker waiting to be loaded in Louisiana.

Trump says auto tariffs set for April 2, approves LNG exports

The president continues to press his effort to remake global trade to address what he says is a system that is tilted against the US.

  • Reuters and Bloomberg

This Month

Aluminium ingots.

Canada should consider tax on aluminium exports to the US: premier

The Quebec premier said a tax on products made by Alcoa and Rio Tinto could create leverage in negotiations with President Donald Trump’s administration.

  • Mathieu Dion and Thomas Seal
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, in Washington.

No guarantees for Trump’s unlikely tariff buddy

A relieved Anthony Albanese managed to persuade the president to at least consider exempting Australia from the 25 per cent tariffs on US steel and aluminium imports. Can that reprieve last?

  • Jennifer Hewett
A major steel mill in China’s Tangshan, Hebei Province.

Why China is to blame for Trump’s metals tariffs

Existing American taxes already restrict steel and aluminium shipments from the Asian nation, which is now flooding other markets with its exports instead.

  • Updated
  • Keith Bradsher
Congressman Joe Courtney with Australia’s ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd.

Trump’s tariff plan attacked in Congress as ‘insult to Australians’

At least one US legislator has lambasted the president’s intention to slug Australian steel and aluminum imports into America.

  • Updated
  • Matthew Cranston
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Trump’s policy shocks need to be carefully thought through.

Investors should beware Trumping at shadows over tariffs

Be careful of buying or selling the rumour around the president’s policies before seeing the facts. Beware fake news.

  • James Thomson
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One.

PM to go head-to-head with Trump on tariff threat

Australian exports to the US could be hit by taxes after the American president announced a duty on metals coming in from every other nation.

  • Updated
  • Phillip Coorey and Simon Evans
Penny Wong and Marco Rubio.

There is a compelling case maintaining US-Australia free trade

It is up to the Australian government and business leaders to keep showing up and demonstrating how the relationship makes America safer, stronger, and more prosperous.

  • April Palmerlee
President Donald Trump meets with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the Oval Office.

Trump wants to slash the US trade deficit with Japan

The president said he believes that a resolution can be found without the need for punitive action, though he’s keeping tariffs are on the table for now.

  • Aamer Madhani and Mari Yamaguchi
US President Donald Trump plans more tariff moves next week.

Trump says he’ll announce reciprocal tariffs next week

In a major escalation of his trade war with US economic partners the president said the new measures would affect “everyone”, without specifying exactly what was planned.

  • Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Jenny Leonard
America’s total trade deficit in goods and services, which consists of exports minus imports, grew 17 per cent in 2024.

US trade deficit hit record in 2024 as imports surged

The US recorded its largest trade deficit in goods with China, followed by the European Union, Mexico, Vietnam and then Ireland.

  • Ana Swanson
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said a priority was to work on areas where EU and US interests converge, such as critical supply chains and emerging technologies.

EU seeks early US talks to avert Trump tariffs

The president has repeatedly complained about the US goods trade deficit with the 27-country European Union.

  • Philip Blenkinsop
President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order in the Oval Office of the White House.

Trump pauses trade war on Mexico, Canada

Mexico and Canada have agreed to Donald Trump’s demands to tighten up illegal immigration and drug trafficking in exchange for pausing sweeping tariffs.

  • Updated
  • Matthew Cranston
Trump’s tariff war will force investors to recalculate their assumptions.

There is a price to be paid for Trump’s ‘deals’

Markets welcomed the president’s reprieve for tariffs on Mexico and Canada, and talks with China. But there’s a big price for using chaos as a bargaining tool.

  • James Thomson
Trump’s tariff war will force investors to recalculate their assumptions.

Trump’s trade war could hit inflation, rates, and growth in Australia

The pressure is on the Albanese government to negotiate the same deal the Turnbull government did in 2018, which exempted Australia from steel and aluminium tariffs.

  • The AFR View
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John Van Der Wielen is the chairman of Perth-based medical technology group Orthocell. He hopes Trump’s tariffs will not apply to Australia.

Trump tariffs hit ASX as Australian businesses assess costly fallout

Shares in export-oriented companies from healthcare to retail crashed as the US president vowed to expand his trade restrictions to other industries.

  • Updated
  • Michael Smith, Simon Evans and Mark Wembridge
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves’ (pictured) speech also focused on the need to promote new drivers of growth, such as by creating a European “Silicon Valley” in the corridor linking Oxford and Cambridge.

Can the UK chancellor save Britain’s economy?

The UK has underinvested for decades and now faces serious growth and budget constraints.

  • Mohamed El-Erian
President Donald Trump suggested that efforts to boost diversity was the cause of the crash.

Trump is using tariffs as a weapon, no matter the cost

The US president’s use of tariffs against China in his first term is now in full bloom as a general panacea to impose on even close US allies for a range of problems.

  • Jennifer Hewett
Donald Trump.

Market panic may be the best protection against Trump’s tariff war

Investors were sure the “Art of the Deal” schtick would mean import duties would be avoided. Now they face a world of “uncontrollable chaos”.

  • James Thomson
President Donald Trump admitted Americans might feel some discomfort after the tariffs he imposed on imports from several countries.

Trump says EU tariffs will be next

Trump’s latest comments leave little room for optimism of an agreement to avoid a North American trade war that may spread across the world.

  • Skylar Woodhouse

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/trade-63b