Westpac CEO Anthony Miller: Don’t overreact on Trump tariffs

Westpac chief executive Anthony Miller says the best answer to Donald Trump’s tariffs is to engage more with the rest of the world, rather than a retaliatory response to the US.

Westpac chief Anthony Miller. Picture: Nikki Short

Westpac CEO Anthony Miller says Australia should not “overreact” to US President Donald Trump’s tariff hit and has urged caution in any response.

Speaking at the International Institute of Finance event in Sydney, Mr Miller said Australia should instead “sit back and see if there’s an alternate path we can follow”, amid calls for a response to the US’s tariffs.

Mr Miller said investors should look past the volatility of recent days, noting that financial markets were often “very noisy”.

“It’s too easy to react to the headline and think, oh my God, what does this mean,” he said.

The world had seen the tariff talk previously in 2018 and 2019, he said, and ultimately it had settled into a “steady state that was acceptable to both parties”.

Mr Miller said countries should now look at what other industries or markets their companies could explore.

He said agriculture and education were two key areas where Australia could better engage in Asia, with both having major ­opportunities. He acknowledged the nation’s coal, gas and iron exports and how they had driven success. But he said the country should look at what more it could do.

“Is the opportunity in critical minerals and rare earths, where instead of just digging it out of the ground and putting it on a ship, that actually we start to add incremental value?” he said.

“It is forcing us to start thinking a little bit more about what’s a better balance, as opposed to having everything done in one jurisdiction.”

US President Donald Trump with his “adviser” Elon Musk sit in a Tesla outside the White House this week. Picture: Getty Images

Mr Miller said Australia could also do more to make the nation attractive to “intellectual capital”, pointing to the success of the US in attracting smart students who studied and stayed.

He said Australia could look to offer its “wonderful life” to these migrants, in a bid to attract and retain the best and brightest.

“If you think about the volatile world that we’re in, in some respects that is our compatible advantage as the stability and the safety and living in Australia becomes how you get the best and the brightest,” Mr Miller said.

Mr Miller also said the backlash against environmental, ­social and governance issues in the US was problematic, and said sustainability should not be a dirty word. He said that ESG instead was “good risk management” for companies.

“It’s really a shame that things like sustainability are being demonised,” he said.

Ruling off his 87th day at the top of the banking major, Mr Miller said calls to slash regulation were also a risk, with Australia’s consistent and transparent regulation having nurtured the economy. “People want to put their money in a jurisdiction where they can trust the fiscal framework,” he said.

But Mr Miller said there should be more done to oversee the growing world of private credit, saying that “mistakes will be made”.

He said it was critical to ensure the rise of private credit did not risk damaging the stability of the financial system, and said the bank had to make sure it was not affected by any failures.

Westpac is a funder of several private credit lenders, including growing Sydney property player Pallas Group. Mr Miller said he did not feel that “we should be worried about” the threat of failures in private credit.

Speaking later in the day, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority general insurance and banking executive director Jane McGill said any financial failures had to be “orderly”, but said there would never not be problems.

Ms McGill said APRA was not concerned about the growing world of private credit, but she said these markets required “good transparency and good risk governance” to function.

Originally published as Westpac CEO Anthony Miller: Don’t overreact on Trump tariffs