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.
We’re not retaliating with tariffs because nearly every mainstream economist has advised against it, including our own Treasury. Here’s the quote from Steven Kennedy, treasury head, at a Senate estimates hearing on 26 February:
For a medium-sized economy such as Australia, there is overwhelming evidence that the use of trade restrictions imposes costs on our consumers and businesses… If Australia were to impose tariffs, we would bear nearly all the cost, given our size and inability to affect the world prices of the goods we import.
We would be shooting ourselves in the foot for the sake of what would essentially amount to little more than a symbolic gesture. We have other, more effective cards beyond tariffs.
Well, I guess between Canada and Australia, we’ll get to run the experiment on whether the Canuck or cuck approach is the right path.
We’re not retaliating with tariffs because nearly every mainstream economist has advised against it, including our own Treasury. Here’s the quote from Steven Kennedy, treasury head, at a Senate estimates hearing on 26 February:
We would be shooting ourselves in the foot for the sake of what would essentially amount to little more than a symbolic gesture. We have other, more effective cards beyond tariffs.