Bishop urges US administration to bypass Australia with aluminium and steel tariffs

AUSTRALIA is in a race against the clock to secure reprieves from US steel and aluminium tariffs expected to be ratified by President Donald Trump within days.

AUSTRALIA is in a race against the clock to secure reprieves from US steel and aluminium tariffs expected to be ratified by President Donald Trump within days.

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop on Thursday said Australia was appealing directly to the US government for the same exemptions expected for Canada and Mexico.

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Australia should be included with those two key US trading partners on the same “national security” grounds, she said.

Ms Bishop said she was taking her case to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who she was “scheduling a call with”.

“I can’t judge or comment on the tone or the circumstances, but I’ll most certainly be putting the case to Secretary Tillerson that if there are exemptions to be made, then Australia should be among those countries exempted,” she told Sky News.

“The Australian government is determined to continue to advocate that Australia should be exempted from this.”

Mr Trump is expected to sign the tariffs into law by the end of the week despite the pleas for an about face from affected countries, other senior leaders in his Republican party and businesses, who have warned it could ignite a trade war.

US President Donald Trump is under pressure over trade tariffs.

Speaking at a business conference on Thursday, Westfield Corporation chairman Frank Lowy said a rise in protectionism would be a “retrograde step for the world”.

“Growth comes from competition. Competition is based on free trade,” Sir Frank said.

“Instead of growing, growth would be limited or even maybe even go backwards.”

The flourish of Australian diplomatic activity comes after White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Mexico, Canada and other countries may be spared from Mr Trump’s planned steel and aluminium tariffs under national security “carve-outs”.

The exemptions would be made on a “case by case” and “country by country” basis.

It marked a significant backdown from the position of the Trump administration earlier this week, whereby there would be no exemptions.

Ms Bishop said increased tariffs risked retaliation.

“Action then brings reaction, and we don’t think that will be in the least bit productive,” she said.

“Should the United States continue down this path, Australia should be exempt as a very close ally and partner of the United States.”

Westfield Corporation chairman Frank Lowy.

Ms Bishop said Australia’s Ambassador to the US, Joe Hockey, had been working with White House economic adviser Gary Cohn, who resigned this week as the Trump administration pushed ahead with the tariff plan.

His resignation has fuelled concerns among business leaders, investors and Republicans about a trade war.

“We urge you to reconsider the idea of broad tariffs to avoid unintended negative consequences to the US economy and its workers,” 107 House Republicans wrote in a letter to Mr Trump.

Analysts said the exemption for Canada would come as some relief for Anglo-Australian mining heavyweight Rio Tinto, with about 75 per cent of its Canadian aluminium output shipped to the US.

Rio Tinto supplies almost a third of the aluminium sold in North America and many had feared the miner could be one of the Australian companies hard hit by the tariffs.

Rio shares climbed 0.6 per cent on Thursday to $75.18.

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