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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Business
Ben Doherty and Josh Butler

Anthony Albanese denounces US tariffs as ‘not a friendly act’ after Donald Trump refuses exemption for Australia

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese and US president Donald Trump
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese says Donald Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium was ‘disappointing’. Composite: AFP/Getty Images/AAP

Donald Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium is “entirely unjustified” and “not a friendly act”, Anthony Albanese says, after the Labor government failed to receive the exemption the US president had dangled in a call last month.

The Australian prime minister said his government would continue pushing for an exemption to the 25% tariffs, calling the trade barriers favoured by Trump “a form of economic self-harm”, in his strongest criticism of the American president since he returned to office.

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