Lutnick accuses Australia of ‘dumping’ aluminium on the US

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has accused Canberra of dumping cheap aluminium into the American market.

The EU has hit back at Donald Trump’s trade tariffs. Picture: Supplied

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has defended the need for 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium tariffs to protect local industry from Australian exporters, accusing Canberra of dumping cheap aluminium into the American market.

Mr Lutnick dismissed concerns about the economic impact of tariffs on prices in America, telling Fox Business on Wednesday (local time) that some foreign imports “might cost a little more – but that which is made in America does not cost more.”

He said the tariffs would protect America from cheap aluminium coming from Australia and steel coming from Japan and China.

“Some foreign steel will go up, for sure. But then they will build those plants in America. Our plant production in America is only operating at 50 (to) 55 per cent,” he said. “That’s got to get up to 80 per cent,” he said.

Mr Lutnick said American plants needed to be “more effective.”

“Look, you’ve got dumpers in the rest of the world. Japan dump steel. China dump steel. What that means is they make it, they over produce and they sell it dirt cheap to try to drive our guys out of business,” he said.

“The President is here to protect American workers. He’s here to protect American industry. We’re going to stop that nonsense and bring steel here.

“So this concept that, oh, prices are going to rise, you got to remember, President Trump is playing for the strength of America.

“And we’re not going to stand for China dumping, Japan dumping. Australia does a lot of aluminium at below cost. I mean, this has got to end, and the President is on it, and he’s protecting America.”

Mr Lutnick said the US President viewed “steel and aluminium as fundamental for our national security. I mean, we can’t be in a war and rely on steel and aluminium from some other country. I mean, it’s just not reasonable.”

“So the President wants steel and aluminium in America, and let me be clear, nothing is going to stop that until we’ve got a big, strong domestic steel and aluminium capability.”

Mr Lutnick argued that it was correct to say that America had the lowest tariffs and American products were the highest tariffed in the world.

“It’s absolutely accurate,” he said.

Earlier, Canada’s incoming Prime Minister Mark Carney signalled that he would follow Justin Trudeau’s tough approach to Donald Trump as the European Union and Ottawa announced retaliatory tariffs against the US, further escalating a global trade war after the US imposed levies on global steel and aluminium imports.

Canada said it would put 25 per cent tariffs on an additional $20.6bn in US imported goods including steel and aluminium products and other American goods such as computers and sports equipment. The Canadian tariffs are set to take effect Thursday.

Mr Carney said Canada was ready to work with the US on a “common, comprehensive approach to trade,” adding he would meet Mr Trump when the President showed “respect” for Canadian sovereignty.

Mr Trump has repeatedly urged Canada to become the 51st state of America, saying it would mean no tariffs would be imposed on the country.

“We are ready to sit down with the Americans, with the US government,” Mr Carney said after publicly endorsing Ottawa’s retaliatory tariffs. However, he added: “I’m ready to sit down with President Trump at the appropriate time, under a position where there’s respect for Canadian sovereignty and we’re working for a common approach, a much more comprehensive approach for trade,”

Addressing the tariffs on US goods, he said: “We don’t want to do this, because we believe in open borders and free and fair trade, but we’re doing this in response,”

The EU said it plans 50 per cent tariffs on imports of American whiskey, motorcycles and motorboats starting April 1, hitting some of America’s best known products including Kentucky bourbon and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Other goods facing new or raised import duties at the beginning of the month include cranberries, garden umbrellas, tablecloths and handkerchiefs, the bloc said.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. Picture: AFP

A second set of EU levies is due to take effect in mid-April. An initial list of goods ranges from American chewing gum to poultry, beef, white chocolate, soybeans, carpets and watermelons. The bloc said it would consult with member states and stakeholders before completing that list.

The bloc’s tariffs will also target US steel and aluminium products.

Canada and the EU announced the retaliatory tariffs Wednesday in response to US steel and aluminium levies that took effect overnight.

“The US administration is once again inserting disruption and disorder into an incredibly successful trading partnership and raising the costs of everyday goods for Canadian and American households alike,” Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said.

European officials said the list of American products they are targeting is intended to maximise the political and economic cost of tariffs for the US while minimising the harm to European businesses and consumers.

Some of the EU tariffs will have their biggest impact on states that voted Republican in the last presidential election, EU officials said, pointing to tariffs on American beef as an example. However, they added the tariffs will also affect some products from Democrat-voting states.

“What we want to do is try to ensure that there is an understanding and pressure in the American system” to remove the steel and aluminium tariffs, a senior EU official said.

Bottles of Jim Beam Bourbon make their way down a conveyor belt inside the bottling plant at the Jim Beam Bourbon Distillery in Clermont, Kentucky. Picture: AFP

The bloc’s whiskey tariffs will primarily hit Kentucky and Tennessee, the biggest US whiskey exporters to the EU, and tariffs on American motorcycles will affect Harley-Davidson, which has a factory in Wisconsin.

Beef and soybeans are among the top agricultural exports to the EU for Nebraska and Kansas, according to EU data. And soybeans are an important agricultural export to the EU for multiple US states, including Louisiana, the home state of House Speaker Mike Johnson.

The US exported $2.4 billion worth of soybeans and $1.2 billion worth of distilled spirits — a category that includes whiskey — to the EU in 2024, US data show.

But other products on the EU list, such as poultry, aren’t imported to the EU in large quantities.

In crafting its list, the bloc sought to choose US products that can also be purchased from other countries, EU officials said. They also said they worked to spread the impact of the counter-tariffs across different European countries.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Picture: Getty Images

Taken together, the EU countermeasures could affect US exports valued at about $24.5 billion, EU officials said. They added that they still have the possibility to increase that amount to $28 billion, which would match the value of EU exports affected by US metals tariffs.

With the threatened US metal tariffs looming, the EU had spent weeks trying to convince Washington to negotiate a deal to avert the trade conflict, but those efforts have so far been unsuccessful. EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, who visited Washington last month, said earlier this week that the US “doesn’t seem to be engaging to make a deal.”

The EU said Wednesday that it remained open to a deal and could reverse its retaliatory measures if an agreement were reached.

With Dow Jones