Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday said that Canberra has an “ideological disagreement” with the US after Washington revealed a plan to impose a 12.5 percent tariff on Australian goods.
The Trump administration on Tuesday unveiled a proposal to impose additional tariffs of 10 percent or 12.5 percent on imported goods from at least 60 economies, including Australia, alleging the use of forced labour in production.
“There is an ideological disagreement where the United States administration has broken with what was a decades-long understanding that tariffs are not positive for the country that is imposing them,” Albanese was quoted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) as saying.
A previous 10 percent tariff on Australian imports was struck down by the Supreme Court in February.
Albanese said any tariff on Australian exports to the US is “unjustified and inconsistent” with the free trade agreements between the two allies.
