Australia could get caught up in Trump’s $1.4tr trade war, FBI agents sacked
Imports to the US will soon face tougher tariffs, Donald Trump has declared, potentially embroiling Australian products as he kickstarts a trade war. FBI agents have also been sacked.
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Steel and aluminium imported to the US will soon face tougher tariffs, Donald Trump has declared, potentially embroiling Australian products as the President kickstarts a trade war.
From this weekend, the President said he would implement tariffs of 25 per cent on all Mexican and Canadian imports and 10 per cent on all Chinese imports, impacting up to $US1.4 trillion worth of goods and likely sparking fierce retaliatory action.
As Mr Trump prepared to whack America’s three biggest trading partners, he also revealed new details about his plans for broader duties on imports, having vowed during the election campaign to introduce universal tariffs.
Among the products he said would be targeted were steel and aluminium, increasing the tariffs he imposed during his first term in the White House in 2019.
Australian steel and aluminium exports to the US were narrowly spared back then, as Mr Trump’s senior advisers cautioned against alienating one of America’s closest allies.
But the President’s sweeping warning on Friday (local time) suggested Prime Minister Anthony Albanese could have to follow Malcolm Turnbull in fighting to protect our exports.
“We’re going to put a lot of tariffs on steel. We already have tariffs on steel and we’ve saved our steel industry, but that was relatively small compared to what it’ll be,” Mr Trump said.
“We’re going to be putting tariffs on steel and aluminium and ultimately copper. That’ll happen pretty quickly.”
He also promised tariffs on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas “fairly soon”.
“I think there could be some temporary, short-term disruption and people will understand that,” the President told reporters in the Oval Office.
“The tariffs are going to make us very rich and very strong.”
US HAS ‘TWO-TO-ONE’ TRADE SURPLUS V AUSTRALIA
At an event at Australia’s Washington DC embassy this week, attended by Mr Trump’s National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, Australia’s ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd made the case for Australian exports to be spared from any new tariffs.
He pointed out that the US had a two-to-one trade surplus against Australia, a surplus that continued unbroken for decades, and that Australia had not imposed tariffs against the US since a free-trade agreement was sealed two decades ago.
“Please pass that on to President Trump,” the former prime minister said.
Canada, Mexico and China are already preparing retaliatory measures to Mr Trump’s tariffs, with outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saying: “No one – on either side of the border – wants to see American tariffs on Canadian goods.”
“If the United States moves ahead, Canada’s ready with a forceful and immediate response,” he warned.
RSM chief economist Joe Brusuelas told CNN the Trump administration was “playing with fire”, given the risk tariffs would drive up inflation almost as soon as it had been brought back under control.
For instance, he said the price of avocados – sourced mostly from Mexico – would likely soar in a blow to Americans wanting to make guacamole for the Super Bowl.
FBI AGENTS FIRED BY DEPT OF JUSTICE
FBI agents who participated in the investigations that led to now-abandoned criminal charges against President Donald Trump are being fired in a sweeping purge of the top US law enforcement organisation, US media reported.
Dozens of FBI agents involved in the probe of Trump supporters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 and some supervisors are also “being evaluated for possible removal,” CNN said, quoting people briefed on the matter.
The Washington Post, citing people familiar with the plan, said “officials are working to identify potentially hundreds (of FBI agents) for possible termination”, based on a memo seen from Acting Director Attorney General Emil Bove.
The directive also said FBI support staff could face “additional personnel action”, suggesting more sackings were to come.
The newspaper said that in addition to the purge at the FBI, about 30 federal prosecutors who worked on Capitol riot cases and were on probationary status had been dismissed.
The Justice Department fired a number of officials on Monday who were involved in the prosecutions of Trump.
A Justice Department official said the positions were being terminated because the acting attorney general did not believe they “could be trusted to faithfully implement the president’s agenda.” NBC News said among those being fired at the Federal Bureau of Investigation were the heads of more than 20 FBI field offices including those in Miami and Washington.
According to CNN, at least six senior FBI leaders have been ordered to “retire, resign or be fired by Monday.” The Post said the FBI’s acting director, Brian Driscoll, a veteran agent who was appointed by Trump to run the bureau until his nominee as director is confirmed by the Senate, had refused to approve the mass firings.
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Originally published as Australia could get caught up in Trump’s $1.4tr trade war, FBI agents sacked