‘20 per cent’: Donald Trump flags baseline tariff hike

Both the Albanese government and the opposition have responded to Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat.

Donald Trump has flagged the US could double the baseline tariff on foreign imports to 20 per cent.

Australia is captured by the baseline tariff regime, with a blanket 10 per cent impost slapped on most products flowing to the US despite a bilateral free-trade agreement.

The baseline tariff is imposed on top of sectoral duties – taxes targeting specific industries, such as steel and aluminium.

The US President floated his new tariff for “the rest of the world” while speaking to reporters with Keir Starmer in Scotland overnight.

“I would say it’ll be somewhere in the 15 to 20 per cent range,” Mr Trump said when pressed for a figure.

“Probably one of those two numbers.

“We’re going to be setting a tariff for, essentially, the rest of the world.

“That’s what they’re going to pay if they want to do business in the United States, because you can’t sit down and make 200 deals.”

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US President Donald Trump says he could double the baseline tariff on foreign goods. Picture: Christopher Furlong / Pool / AFP

The Albanese government has responded, with a spokesperson for Trade Minister Don Farrell saying Australia would continue push for an Australian carve out.

“Any tariffs on Australian goods are unjustified and an act of economic self-harm,” the spokesperson said.

“We will continue to engage at all levels to advocate for the removal of all tariffs, in line with our free trade agreement with the United States.”

Assistant Treasurer Dan Mulino expanded a little, downplaying Mr Trump’s comments as “off-the-cuff”.

“We are a country that relies on trade,” he told Sky News.

“We are a country with a very high proportion of jobs that rely on trade.

“That remains the position of this government.

“So, we would rather a situation in which the world doesn’t go down the path of imposing tariffs.

“But what I can say is that Australia remains in a situation where we’ve got as good a deal as anybody, and we continue to engage with the US Government intensely on these matters.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is again being urged to tee-up a meeting with US President Donald Trump. Picture: Martin Ollman / NewsWire

Meanwhile, opposition trade spokesman Kevin Hogan slammed Mr Trump’s idea as “really bad for global growth”, warning it could “encourage retaliation from other countries, and we certainly don’t want to see a global trade war between, say, China and the US”.

“We’re a huge exporting nation. Tariffs are bad policy,” he said.

“We, as the opposition, disagree with Trump’s tariff policy, but again, it reinforces the urgency and the great disappointment that our prime minister hasn’t had a face-to-face meeting with Trump.

“He needs to go over there and prosecute the case, to argue Australia’s case, but also to stand up for free trade across the globe, because the importance of it for us as a trading nation, as Australia.”

Australia’s biggest export to the US is beef, which was worth $5.7bn in 2024, according to Meat and Livestock Australia.

Originally published as ‘20 per cent’: Donald Trump flags baseline tariff hike