Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says U.S. tariffs on Australian steel and aluminum are unjustified, but his government will not retaliate with its own tariffs.
That’s ridiculous. Retaliating has done nothing but strengthen resolve and brought a new level of patriotism to all the countries that retaliated. They now have a shared common enemy. Not to mention the effects on the economy would largely be felt medium to longer term.
Then there’s the whole stabbing allies in the back too - that has a cost.
EDIT: Look at this polling data and try and tell me issuing retaliatory measures hurts the party that enacts them:
Again, Australia has a trade deficit with the US and what America pays for Australian steel and aluminum makes up just a tiny fraction of Australia’s GDP but on the other hand, Australia import far more from the US than they export.
Meaning people would just look at the increased inflation that retaliation would cause and say that is why you should vote the other side.
Australia has no bargaining chip unlike Canada nor is it as intertwined with American economy like Canada is (whom can actually damage American economy because for example, Canada exports oil and electricity to US).
And it’s not like Australians are just taking punches from America as, “Aussies have vowed to boycott American goods”.
Canada had the Conservatives with a 30 point lead before the Liberals implemented tariffs against the US and now the Liberals are leading. Canada’s Cons are also pretty cozy with the US and the leader is basically a Trump wannabe.
You can try to justify bending the knee to the US, but don’t tell me they aren’t, and stabbing their allies in the back in the process.
Not only do they NOT have a deficit, they had the third largest suplus.
Huh? Your source literally shows that America has a trade surplus with Australia and that Australia runs a significant trade deficit with the US.
If you actually care to look at it, you noticed that US exports more to Australia than they import, that is why
Trade Imbalance (USD Billion) = 17.7
Because exports to Australia (33.6)
Is larger than imports from Australia (15.9)
So 33.6-15.9 is 17.7
The U.S. goods trade surplus with Australia was $17.9 billion in 2024, a 1.6 percent increase ($279.7 million) over 2023.
Nice, you yourself even admit that US has a trade surplus with Australia. LOL
Do you not know what: “Australia has a trade deficit with the US” means?
It means America has a trade surplus with Australia aka Australia imports more from America than they export to America or in other words America exports to Australia more than they import from Australia thus America have a trade surplus with Australia and Australia has a trade deficit with America.
Retaliatory measures don’t have to include taxing your own people. I suggest merely rallying people around the cause of boycotting US products does more good.
You need the capitalist system to divest from America and tariffs are the way. Then capitalism kicks in and finds either alternative sources, or creates new ones.
It’s like asking people to recycle more to help climate change.
A bully just punched you on the face. And all other kids are telling him to fuck off, but Australia would rather take the beating, not say anything and hope it doesn’t get any worse. And honestly - it’s pathetic. This isn’t the time for inaction.
That’s ridiculous. Retaliating has done nothing but strengthen resolve and brought a new level of patriotism to all the countries that retaliated. They now have a shared common enemy. Not to mention the effects on the economy would largely be felt medium to longer term.
Then there’s the whole stabbing allies in the back too - that has a cost.
EDIT: Look at this polling data and try and tell me issuing retaliatory measures hurts the party that enacts them:
Yeah no.
Again, Australia has a trade deficit with the US and what America pays for Australian steel and aluminum makes up just a tiny fraction of Australia’s GDP but on the other hand, Australia import far more from the US than they export.
Meaning people would just look at the increased inflation that retaliation would cause and say that is why you should vote the other side.
Australia has no bargaining chip unlike Canada nor is it as intertwined with American economy like Canada is (whom can actually damage American economy because for example, Canada exports oil and electricity to US).
And it’s not like Australians are just taking punches from America as, “Aussies have vowed to boycott American goods”.
EDIT: I Goofed
NumdaQA already pointed out you’re utterly wrong, but some additional context might help:
So while I get it makes sense in Canada, and we are similar countries in a lot of ways, but on this issue we’re just at different political places.
Canada had the Conservatives with a 30 point lead before the Liberals implemented tariffs against the US and now the Liberals are leading. Canada’s Cons are also pretty cozy with the US and the leader is basically a Trump wannabe.
You can try to justify bending the knee to the US, but don’t tell me they aren’t, and stabbing their allies in the back in the process.
Appreciate the context though.
Huh? Your source literally shows that America has a trade surplus with Australia and that Australia runs a significant trade deficit with the US.
If you actually care to look at it, you noticed that US exports more to Australia than they import, that is why
Trade Imbalance (USD Billion) = 17.7
Because exports to Australia (33.6)
Is larger than imports from Australia (15.9)
So 33.6-15.9 is 17.7
Nice, you yourself even admit that US has a trade surplus with Australia. LOL
Do you not know what: “Australia has a trade deficit with the US” means?
It means America has a trade surplus with Australia aka Australia imports more from America than they export to America or in other words America exports to Australia more than they import from Australia thus America have a trade surplus with Australia and Australia has a trade deficit with America.
Fair enough, I goofed on the deficit front. Still stand by my parent point though.
Retaliatory measures don’t have to include taxing your own people. I suggest merely rallying people around the cause of boycotting US products does more good.
You need the capitalist system to divest from America and tariffs are the way. Then capitalism kicks in and finds either alternative sources, or creates new ones.
It’s like asking people to recycle more to help climate change.
A bully just punched you on the face. And all other kids are telling him to fuck off, but Australia would rather take the beating, not say anything and hope it doesn’t get any worse. And honestly - it’s pathetic. This isn’t the time for inaction.