Anthony Albanese concerned Trump tariffs’ fallout to hurt Aussie superannuation

Anthony Albanese says Australia has been in contact with the White House, as he says the global chaos from the Trump tariffs is concerning for Aussie super.

Anthony Albanese says Australia has reached out to the White House to negotiate the 10 per cent tariff imposed by Donald Trump. Picture: Jason Edwards / NewsWire

Anthony Albanese says the shockwaves in global trade triggered by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs could harm Australians’ superannuation, as the stock market plummets.

Investors and superannuation members have been smashed on a turbulent Monday, with the Aussie dollar plunging below 60 cents and $160bn wiped off the ASX within minutes of opening.

Almost $9 trillion has been wiped from Wall Street since the Trump announcement.

The market drop, which is the biggest since the Covid pandemic, follows world markets, as investors fear the fallout from Trump’s tariff policies, announced last week.

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as major indices slumped following President Donald Trump's aggressive tariff policies. Picture: Timothy Clary / AFP)

The US has added between 10 per cent and 50 per cent on goods imported to the US, sending shockwaves around the world.

Mr Albanese, campaigning for the May 3 election in Melbourne on Monday, said Australia would continue to engage with Washington and has already made contact with the White House.

“We’re seeing a considerable impact, negative impact on the stock market that impacts Australians because superannuation funds have their shares there,” Mr Albanese said.

“We are concerned and will continue to engage.

“I’m concerned about the impact in Asia. If you look at the impact of some of the tariffs in Asia, some of them were quite high.

“No country got a better arrangement than Australia.”

Australia was one of the few countries to be given the lowest 10 per cent tariff, but Mr Albanese labelled it “unwarranted” as Australia imposes no tariffs on US imports.

Anthony Albanese said he was concerned for super as stock markets react badly to the Trump tariffs. Picture: Jason Edwards / NewsWire

On Monday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said “the world has changed”.

“Globalisation is over and we are now in a new Europe,” Sir Keir said.

Mr Albanese mirrored those remarks later on Monday.

“We do live in uncertain times, and we are concerned about the impact on global trade and the global economy,” the PM said from a suburban home in Melbourne.

“We’re seeing a considerable impact, negative impact on the stock market that impacts Australians, because superannuation funds have their shares there.

“ … from Australia’s perspective … the discussion that I had with Prime Minister Starmer on Friday night, is certainly consistent with the quote that you put forward.”

US President Donald Trump has defended his tariffs regime despite the chaos it has caused on world markets. Picture: Mandel Ngan / AFP

President Trump has defended his tariffs, hitting back at accusations that he’s intentionally trying to crash the stock market.

“I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” the US President told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday US time.

“We have been treated so badly by other countries because we had stupid leadership that allowed this to happen.

“What’s going to happen to the markets I can’t tell you. But our country is much stronger.”