Australian goods imported into the US will continue to attract the baseline 10% tariff, with Australia dodging any tariff increase in the latest round of Donald Trump\u2019s global trade war.<\/p>\n
On Thursday night US time \u2013 Friday morning in Australia \u2013 Trump issued an executive order<\/a> confirming new tariff deals for several trading partners, as well as revised tariffs for a number of other countries.<\/p>\n Australia is not mentioned in the order, which stated that any countries not on the new list would remain at a 10% tariff. Guardian Australia understands the US government confirmed to the Australian embassy in Washington DC that the 10% tariff rate would remain in place.<\/p>\n \u201cThe White House has confirmed that no country has reciprocal tariffs lower than Australia,\u201d a spokesperson for Australia\u2019s minister for trade, Don Farrell, said on Friday morning.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s so-called \u201creciprocal tariffs\u201d are separate to the industry-specific tariffs of 50% imposed by the Trump administration on Australian steel, aluminium and copper imports: those tariffs also remain in place.<\/p>\n Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWhile we remain in the best possible position under the United States\u2019 new tariff regime, we will continue to advocate for the removal of all tariffs in line with our free trade agreement,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n In the executive order issued this week, Trump indicated he was open to further negotiations on tariffs with countries he saw as aligned to his America First ideology.<\/p>\n \u201cSome trading partners have agreed to, or are on the verge of agreeing to, meaningful trade and security commitments with the United States, thus signaling their sincere intentions to permanently remedy the trade barriers that have contributed to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 14257, and to align with the United States on economic and national security matters.\u201d<\/p>\n Executive Order 14257<\/a> was Trump\u2019s April order, which argued that \u201clarge and persistent annual US goods trade deficits constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and economy of the United States\u201d.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s latest executive order castigated unnamed countries he felt had shown insufficient fealty to the US on trade.<\/p>\n \u201cOther trading partners, despite having engaged in negotiations, have offered terms that, in my judgment, do not sufficiently address imbalances in our trading relationship or have failed to align sufficiently with the United States on economic and national-security matters,\u201d the order read.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are also some trading partners that have failed to engage in negotiations with the United States or to take adequate steps to align sufficiently with the United States on economic and national security matters.\u201d<\/p>\n The new executive order punishes small economies in particular, who have limited trading relationships with the US: Syria was given a 41% tariff rate, Myanmar and Laos 40%.<\/p>\n The EU has a split tariff rate: 0% on some goods, and 15% on others.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Breaking News Australia<\/p>\n Get the most important news as it breaks<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n China, one of the US\u2019s largest trading partners and a target of Trump\u2019s trade ire, is not mentioned in the latest order. It remains at a 30% tariff rate, with some exemptions for goods such as smartphones and semiconductors. A proposed \u2013 punitive \u2013 145% tariff on Chinese imports has been paused until mid-August.<\/p>\n The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, told reporters<\/a> the US has the \u201cmakings of a deal\u201d with China, but that it\u2019s not yet complete.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s still a few technical details to be worked out on the Chinese side between us. I\u2019m confident that it will be done, but it\u2019s not 100% done.\u201d<\/p>\n