Donald Trump rejects Australia's bid for tariff exemptions
13m ago13 minutes agoTue 11 Mar 2025 at 6:38pm
Trump holds up the executive order while his commerce secretary stands behind him with a grin
Donald Trump considered an exemption for Australia but decided against it, the White House says. (Reuters: Kevin Lamarque)
Australia will not be granted an exemption from US tariffs on aluminium and steel imports, the White House says.
US President Donald Trump had previously said he would consider excluding Australia from the 25 per cent tariffs, which take effect on Wednesday, local time.
But White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told the ABC on Tuesday: "He considered it, and considered against it. There will be no exemptions."
Asked why, Ms Leavitt said: "American-first steel. And if they want to be exempted, they should consider moving steel manufacturing here."
Hopes for a reprieve from the tariffs were buoyed at first when Mr Trump promised "great consideration" after a warm phone call with Anthony Albanese. But they were later dashed when Trump's trade guru Peter Navarro said Australia was "killing" American aluminium.
A subsequent flurry of Washington meetings involving ambassador Kevin Rudd and treasurer Jim Chalmers yielded little evidence of progress, and Foreign Minister Penny Wong admitted a fortnight ago Australia had a "hill to climb".
She added it would likely take longer than the one year it took the Turnbull government to secure an exemption to the same tariffs when they were imposed by the first Trump administration, signalling that any remaining hopes were for a breakthrough only after the tariffs have been applied.
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Posted13m ago13 minutes agoTue 11 Mar 2025 at 6:38pm, updated1m ago1 minutes agoTue 11 Mar 2025 at 6:50pm
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