Trump fickleness or Labor ideology: both hurting us

Anyone blaming Anthony Albanese for the tariffs imposed on Australian steel and aluminium is putting their blame on the wrong person. Donald Trump is the one to blame, initially giving hope that tariffs may not be imposed on local products and then imposing them. You cannot trust a man who changes his commentary with the wind, is narcissistic in the extreme and does not seem to have a vice-president, relying more on another narcissist in Elon Musk.

Musk has been tasked with cutting costs and reducing staff numbers within the American government and bureaucracy, yet how much has been spent on employing people and setting up his DOGE department? Trump has not been President for very long yet has already alienated many close allies, made life financially hard for the American population, and shown he prefers Russia over Ukraine, just to name a few of his daft decisions.

Kaye Leitch, Austins Ferry, Tas

The US-imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium will evolve to become a blip on the horizon should President Trump decide to impose similar tariffs on our agricultural products. These products represent the one thing Australia still creates better than most countries, mainly because, apart from the banning of live exports, the government hasn’t figured out a way destroy them.

Greg Williams, Bicton, WA

The Labor Party is trying to pretend there is no reasoning with Donald Trump in relation to tariffs. How much the government really tried is something Anthony Albanese needs to reveal, truthfully. Funnily enough, Mexico, which was threatened with tariffs, has managed to get them postponed after decisive action by Mexico’s President Claudia Scheinbaum. “Fortunately, dialogue and respect have prevailed,” she told her people. Apparently that’s too hard for our government.

Helen Dyer, Ferndale, SA

President Donald Trump has imposed 25 per cent tariffs on our steel and aluminium. I get that this is lamentable. That said, could one of your many qualified economist commentators help us out, please? The tariffs will push the price of $100 to $125 of each product. In that pre-tariff $100 price, what is the total cost of our energy, which has as a matter of deliberate policy scuppered the cheapest and most reliable for ideological reasons; of our unions-driven wage bills; of our DEI and gender parity obsessions; and of our lost productivity improvements. These calculations should include not just the manufactured product in Australia but also the transportation costs of shipping them to the US. I do wonder if Trump might not be doing us a favour to force a reckoning on how and why Australia has drifted into being such a high-cost country.

Ramesh Thakur, Ocean Shores, NSW

What many see as bullying is really the shock tactics forced on Donald Trump because much of the world does not want to accept that the days of America subsidising their security and lifestyles are over.

This past benevolent behaviour has left the US with trillions of dollars of increasing national debt and a trillion-dollar budget deficit that will only worsen without action now. Europe’s belated recognition that it must rapidly build its defence capacity will take time.

Doug Hurst, Chapman, ACT

Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariff on Austrian aluminium and steel is a universal tariff “with no exceptions” regardless of who had grovelled at the White House. Malcolm Turnbull was correct in calling Trump out, and pointing out that appeasing a bully never works.
 In Australia’s case, our aluminium and steel exports to America are less than 0.5 per cent of our GDP. In the name of America First, Trump seems intent on destroying global free trade, one of the pillars of capitalism, using tariffs and aggression. In doing so, he will also harm his domestic economy. For example, America’s aluminium production capacity, which has been in long-term decline, simply can’t replace the millions of tonnes currently imported, predominantly from Canada. The inevitable result will be a progressive increase of aluminium prices in the US. Prices are already on the rise and will feed through into crucial industries like car manufacturing and construction.

Andrew Whyte, Mt Martha, Vic