This was published 6 years ago
Tariff exemption only temporary for Australia, new quotas introduced
By Peter Mitchell
Los Angeles:Â President Donald Trump will slap import quotas on Australian steel and aluminium and the tariff exemption he granted Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull may only be temporary.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Mr Trump's policy adviser Peter Navarro offered new details on the tariffs on Thursday, US time.
Malcolm Turnbull and Donald Trump at the White House in February.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Australia, the European Union, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil were named by Mr Lighthizer as initially exempt from America's 25 per cent steel and 10 per cent aluminium tariffs, which come into force on Friday.
The Trump administration, however, was quick to remind Australia and the other exempted countries pressure would be applied to secure better trade deals for the US.
"Here's what's going to happen," Mr Navarro told CNN.
"They're temporary exemptions conditioned on the ability of these countries to come to the table and give us more fair and reciprocal trade."
Australia and other exempted nations will be saddled with steel and aluminium quotas to prevent non-exempted nations attempting to find backdoor entry points to America.
"This is an important thing," Mr Navarro said.
"Every country that is not facing tariffs that we are going to negotiate with will face quotas so that we protect our aluminum and steel industries.
"For all countries there has to be a quota.
"If you don't put a quota on then any country that can do whatever they want will become a trans-shipment point for any other country."
The tough words came as Mr Trump heightened fears of a US-China trade war by announcing plans to hit Chinese goods with $US60 billion in tariffs.
World stock markets plummeted, with the Dow Jones plunging 724.42 points and shares of US airline manufacturer Boeing, likely to be a victim of retaliatory trade action from China, dropping 5.2 per cent.
AAP