‘Dumpers’: US lashes Australia on trade as Canada, EU hit back over Trump’s tariffs

Washington: Canada and the European Union have swiftly retaliated against US President Donald Trump’s metal tariffs, while Australia has joined its regional allies by copping the taxes without a response but continuing to press for an exemption.

Meanwhile, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, with whom Australia was negotiating in the days leading up to the tariffs being finalised, singled out Australia for criticism, accusing it of subsidising cheap aluminium exports.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick with Donald Trump in the Oval Office last month.Credit: AP

“You’ve got dumpers in the rest of the world. Japan dumps steel, China dumps steel … we’re going to stop that nonsense and bring steel here,” Lutnick told Fox Business on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT).

“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.”

Australia’s ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, met Lutnick in the past few days to argue the case for an Australian exemption. That was ruled out by the White House hours before the tariffs began. No country has been granted a carve-out.

Joe Courtney, a Democrat who co-chairs the Friends of Australia caucus in Congress, noted Australia had just paid the first $800 million of a total $5 billion contribution to the US shipbuilding industry under the terms of the AUKUS defence agreement.

“The Trump tariffs that went into effect today are a senseless slap in the face,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the tariff decision as “entirely unjustified” and “not a friendly act” but ruled out retaliatory measures, saying Canberra would continue to press for an exemption instead.

That aligned it more closely with regional partners South Korea and Japan, as well as Mexico, which have opted to wait and see rather than respond immediately to the steel and aluminium tariffs.

Britain’s Labour Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, also exercised caution, saying the UK would take a “pragmatic approach” but keep all options on the table.

However, Canada and the EU took strident counter-measures.

Canada, the largest supplier of steel to the US, announced new 25 per cent tariffs on $C30 billion ($33 billion) worth of US goods that will also hit computers, sports equipment and cast-iron products.

Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the new tariffs were in addition to levies on a separate $33 billion worth of US goods enacted this week. “We will not stand idly by while our iconic steel and aluminium industries are being unfairly targeted,” he said.

Credit: Matt Golding

The EU resuscitated its retaliatory tariffs from Trump’s first term, targeting textiles, bourbon, jeans, peanut butter, motorcycles and other products worth about $45 billion.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said consumer prices would rise and jobs were at stake. “We deeply regret this measure. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business and even worse for consumers.”

Trump was undeterred when asked about the escalating trade war as he met Ireland’s taoiseach (prime minister), Micheal Martin, in the Oval Office. He disputed that the unpredictability of near-daily changes in tariff policy was undermining market confidence.

“I have the right to adjust,” he said. “It’s not called inconsistency, it’s called flexibility.”

Lutnick said only a significant increase in domestic US production would lead to the steel and aluminium tariffs being wound back.

“Nothing’s going to stop that until we’ve got a big strong domestic steel and aluminium capability. National security rises above all other things,” he told Fox Business.

Australia’s $1 billion of steel and aluminium exports to the US constitute a small fraction of America’s annual imports of those metals.

But Canberra fears Australian agricultural and pharmaceutical products could be hit by a fresh wave of Trump tariffs due to begin on April 2.

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