Yahoo Finance’s live coverage of Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ has now concluded. The US president has imposed tariffs on Australia but we’ve managed to escape the worst of it.
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Trump revealed broad reciprocal duties on all US trade partners with a baseline tariff rate of 10 per cent on all countries, which is what Australia is currently facing. There will be additional tariffs to be added on top for some of what the administration considers the worst offenders which include our three biggest export recipients China, Japan and South Korea.
Trump did single out Australia over our failure to buy US beef, possibly laying the groundwork for further beef tariffs.
The Australian sharemarket sank on the opening bell, wiping $50bn to $60bn off the market.
You can follow our US team’s in-depth coverage here, while you can see all of our updates revealing how it impacts Australia below.
LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER 17 updates
Relief for Aussie pharmaceuticals
Australian pharmaceutical companies will not be directly hit by Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
The president on Thursday morning Australian time unveiled 10 per cent tariffs on all Australian goods sent to the United States as part his “Liberation Day” announcements.
But the nation’s pharmaceutical industry representative Medicines Australia has received confirmation there will be no tariffs on Australian pharmaceuticals exported to the US.
Mr Trump’s executive order hinted pharmaceuticals, alongside copper, semiconductors, lumber and critical minerals could be exempt from the levies, though the Australian sector did not receive official confirmation until Thursday afternoon.
China promises to fight back
And so it begins.
China has promised to counteract Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs after it was one of the worst hit nations.
“China strongly opposes the US announcement of ‘reciprocal tariffs’ on all trading partners and will resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its interests,” the Commerce Ministry said.
“There is no winner in a trade war, and protectionism leads nowhere. China urges the US to immediately remove unilateral tariffs and resolve differences with trade partners through dialogue.”
Warning about Albo’s ‘Buy Australian’ campaign
Anthony Albanese once again pushed his ‘Buy Australian’ campaign in the face of fresh US tariffs but there’s one big problem.
The cost of living.
“To expect consumers to switch to something that may be more expensive is a hard ask,” Dr Daniel Kiely from the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre at Curtin University told the ABC.
He also said Australians should be careful boycotting items that may actually have been made from something imported from Australia, for example metals.
Iconic water brand set to go up in price
Returning to the Pacific now and some of the world’s poorest economies are reeling after discovering they too will be subject to tariffs from Donald Trump’s White House.
Fiji has been levied at 32 per cent, Vanuatu at 23 per cent, Nauru at 30 per cent, and bizarrely, the tiny Australian external territory of Norfolk Island was hit with a 29 per cent tariff.
That will mean the favourite bottled water of many Americans – Fiji Water – should get a lot more expensive.
Water makes up two-thirds of Fijian exports to the US, including the eponymous brand.
The USA is Fiji’s number one export market, with more than half a billion dollars worth of Fijian goods heading across the Pacific in 2024.
Should the tariffs lead to lower take-up of Fiji Water or other goods in the US, it will be a huge hit to the Fijian economy.
Trump pictured drinking Fiji water during his 2016 presidential campaign. Source: Guardian Australia’s stocks tumble
The Australian sharemarket sank on the opening bell, wiping $50bn to $60bn off the market, after US President Donald Trump announced wide-ranging tariffs on exports to the US.
Australia fared better than most countries, but still copped a 10 per cent “reciprocal” tariff, described by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as “unwarranted”.
But despite stocks tanking, the market is now fully expecting the Reserve Bank to cut the official cash rate at its May board meeting.
While initially the US markets rallied at the close before ahead of President Trump’s announcement at 4pm Wednesday Washington DC time – 7am AEDT.
But after the announcement, futures markets sank by as much as 4.5 per cent.
The S&P/ASX200 was lower on Thursday, dropping 111.70 points or 1.41 per cent to 7,822.80.
Capital.com senior financial market analyst Kyle Rodda said the tariffs could have been worse, but they could have also been better.
“The biggest issue seems to be the absolute level of tariffs outlined in the plan,” he said. “While each trading partner will experience a targeted tariff matching or lower than that which is applied on the US economy, in the aggregate, the level of tariffs will be roughly 20 per cent – on the high side of what was estimated.
“As a result, the markets have to price in a slightly greater growth shock than what was already priced-in, not just on the US economy, but also the rest of the world.
“That alone explains the drop in US futures – the tariffs were announced after the close – the rally in the US dollar, the boost in gold, and the sell-off in oil prices.”
– NCA NewsWire
Bizarre Aussie detail on Trump’s tariff list
Well this is a bizarre detail from Trump’s global tariffs and it’s certainly stumped Anthony Albanese.
Australia’s Norfolk Island, a two-hour flight from Brisbane, has somehow copped a higher tariff rate (29 per cent) than the mainland (10 per cent).
“I’m not quite sure that Norfolk Island, with respect to it, is a trade competitor with the giant economy of the United States,” Albanese said.
“I’m not sure what Norfolk Island’s major exports are to the US or why it has been singled out, but it has.”
And to add to the mystery, there were 10 per cent tariffs outlined for Heard and McDonald Islands despite nobody living on them.
While a part of Australia, Norfolk Island has been slapped with its own tariffs. Source: Google Maps Kevin Rudd has ‘positive relationship’ with Trump administration, Albo insists
OK let’s delve back into how our PM is going to get his message across to Donald Trump as the Coalition has been very vocal this morning about Anthony Albanese’s lack of contact with the US president.
One key figure in all this is our ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, who famously slammed Donald Trump on his socials in the belief he would never return to the White House. Albanese has said his government is in daily communication with the Trump administration about tariffs, so you’d assume Rudd is in those conversations.
Albanese has repeatedly been forced to defend Rudd’s position, arguing he is the right man for the job.
And the PM has again reiterated that point in the wake of the latest round of tariffs.
“I make this point about Kevin Rudd — no-one can question Kevin Rudd’s work ethic,” he said.
“Kevin Rudd works relentlessly in Australia’s national interest, and he’s developed very positive relationships with key people in the Trump administration.”
Aussie beef confident it can prosper despite Trump tariffs
Well it was how we deal with our beef that Donald Trump fired into, but the Australian red meat industry is putting a brave face on this morning.
While the Red Meat Advisory Council (RMAC) and its members said it was disappointed with the sweeping 10 per cent tariff Australia was hit by, it says demand for quality Australian beef has never been higher.
And it says if it needs to, they’ll pivot to other markets.
“It’s critical to note just how diversified Australia is with our red meat exports. Other major markets include Greater China, Japan and Korea, worth A$3.9B, A$2.6B and A$2.5B respectively,” RMAC Chair, John McKillop said.
And while Labor doesn’t believe there’ll be further tariffs added to beef, what we’ve learnt is to never rule anything out with Donald Trump
China storm brewing
One thing we’re looking out for is how Chinese state media will react to Trump’s tariffs, who will undoubtedly have a pop at the US president before the foreign ministry spokesperson gets stuck into him this evening.
China, one of Australia’s biggest trading partners, were hit with 34 per cent tariffs. While we wait for the Global Times and co, here’s a couple of illustrations that featured from Beijing mouthpieces in the build up to ‘Liberation Day’.
Source: Global Times Source: China Daily What do you think about the tariffs?
Alright, well let’s get your opinion on what Donald Trump has delivered, and how you’re feeling about it in terms of its impact on Australia.
Bundaberg drinks land another free ad
Well Bundaberg products have been getting plenty of free ads of late.
They’re the go-to example for Labor when Anthony Albanese promotes his ‘Buying Australian’ push in the face of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“Nothing says buy Australian like a Bundy ginger beer,” Albanese again said this morning.
“Nothing says it more except maybe a Dark ‘N’ Stormy mixing it with a Bundaberg rum.
“I want, and we will promote buying Australian is one way that we can respond [to the US’s tariffs]. We can be proud of our products. We can’t control what the US administration determines.”
Dutton says Albo can’t get Trump on the phone
Well Anthony Albanese says his government has been having daily conversations with the Trump administration about the previous steel and aluminium tariffs imposed earlier this year by the US.
But Opposition leader Peter Dutton claims Albanese can’t get Donald Trump on the phone.
“We need to sit down and negotiate hard on our country’s behalf,” Dutton told 2GB this morning.
“There’s been no significant negotiation leader to leader. We need to be strong and negotiate in our country’s interest.”
Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier this week the US president would welcome a phone call to negotiate any of the tariffs he’s imposed.
Trump’s big Apple claim
There’s plenty to digest from Donald Trump’s address, and he had some big claims about one of the world’s biggest brands.
Stating there’ll be huge investment locally, the US president said Apple will switch its production focus from China to the US.
“This is a company that built its factories and its plants in China. Apple is going to spend $500 billion. They never spent money like that here. They’re going to build their plants here,” he said.
Full list of countries targeted by Donald Trump
Let’s bring you a breakdown of what each country is facing. The below X post lists the ‘reciprocal tariffs’ the US will impose, with Cambodia copping the highest tariff at 49 per cent. Click into the X post below for the full list.
Albo not keen on knee-jerk reaction
Staying with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese did announce Australia would not seek to impose reciprocal tariffs on the US despite his combative response.
Every country, including Australia, will have a 10 per cent baseline tariff applied to it, and espite the hit to our exports, Albo said he won’t be going tit-for-tat.
“The administration’s tariffs have no basis in logic, and they go against the bases of our two nation’s partnership. This is not the act of a friend,” he said.
“Today’s decision will add to uncertainty in the global economy and it will push up costs for American households. It is the American people who will pay the biggest price for these unjustified tariffs.
“This is why our government will not be seeking to impose reciprocal tariffs.”
Albo promises to stand up for Australians
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has just addressed the media in response to Donald Trump’s tariffs, calling the the move “totally unwarranted” and “not the act of a friend”.
“The administration’s tariffs have no basis in logic and they go against the bases of our two nation’s partnership,” he said.
And while Opposition leader Peter Dutton suggested on Wednesday Albanese lacked “a backbone” when it came to facing Trump, the prime minister vowed to “stand up for Australian jobs, Australian industry, Australian consumers, and Australian values”.
“Australia will always respond by defending our national interest. And our government will always deal with global challenges the Australian way – standing up for our national interest,” he said.
The prime minister had some stern words for Donald Trump this morning. Source: ABC Donald Trump’s Australian tariffs – what we know so far
OK, let’s start with a brief assessment of what it means for us.
Australian commodities, pharmaceutical and meat exporters will face tariffs of at least 10 per cent as US President Donald Trump announces his new tariff plans on Thursday.
Dubbed by the President as ‘Liberation Day’ for America and Make America Wealthy Again, he said all countries will face a baseline tariff of 10 per cent, while detailing further tariffs for individual countries.
He is yet to provide that number for Australia, but in his preamble he singled out Australian beef.
“Australia bans – and they’re wonderful people, wonderful everything – but they ban American beef,” President Trump said.
“Yet we imported $3bn of Australian beef from them just last year alone.
“They won’t take any of our beef. They don’t want it because they don’t want it to affect their farmers and you know, I don’t blame them but they’re doing the same thing right now starting at midnight tonight, I would say.”
The tariffs will come in from midnight US time, 3pm Thursday AEDT.
– NCA NewsWire
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