**Washington:** US President Donald Trump has hit Australia with a 10 per cent tariff on all goods exported to the United States, part of a sweeping move to reinstall worldwide import duties and shake up the global economic order.
Unveiling the new tariffs at a White House ceremony, Trump singled out Australia’s main export to the US, beef, saying it was unfair for Australia to ban imports of American beef while exporting $US3 billion ($4.7 billion) worth of beef products to the US last year.
President Donald Trump announced the reciprocal tariff scheme in the White House Rose Garden.Credit: AP
“They’re wonderful people, wonderful everything, but they ban American beef,” he said. “They don’t want it because they don’t want it to affect their farmers. I don’t blame them, but they’re doing the same thing right now, starting at midnight tonight, I would say.”
Australia’s 10 per cent tariff is the lowest rate of those unveiled on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT), and matches that charged to the United Kingdom, Singapore, Chile, Turkey, Brazil and many others. Trump described this as the “baseline” rate.
He said the administration calculated a generalised tariff rate – to apply on imports across the board from each country – based on what that country charged in tariffs or equivalent non-monetary trade barriers, such as import restrictions, regulations and other rules.
Australia has had a free trade agreement with the US since 2005, and no tariffs. But it maintains other barriers, including the beef ban and measures that have long irked the US trade office and Trump’s economic advisers.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick holds up a chart showing tariffs of 10 per cent on Australia and other countries.Credit: AP
By contrast, China was hit with a 34 per cent across-the-board tariff, the European Union 20 per cent, South Korea 25 per cent, Japan 24 per cent and India 26 per cent.
Trump said these rates were all less than the effective tariff rate those countries charge the US, according to the administration’s calculations.