Anthony Albanese has hit back at US plans for a 12.5 per cent tariff on Australian exports, insisting the nation's modern slavery protections are already stringent. The US Trade Representative examined 60 countries and concluded that none had sufficient measures in place to prevent the import of goods made with forced labour.
Under the proposal, a 10 per cent temporary tariff imposed in February on Australian goods would increase to 12.5 per cent from July 24. Albanese told the ABC Australia has 'robust, comprehensive and world-leading' forced labour and slavery laws. He said no notice was given to the Australian side on the proposed tariffs.
'The United States administration has broken with what was, decades-long understanding that tariffs are not positive for the country that is imposing them,' Albanese said. 'They increase the costs of goods and services in the country that is applying them to its consumers and that free trade is in the interests of the global economy.'
In 2025, Australia exported more than $48.5 billion worth of goods and services to the US. The Trump administration has proposed a 12.5 per cent tariff on all Australian exports to the US. Beef and gold from Australia will maintain their existing exemptions from US tariffs, Daily Mail understands.
The proposed 12.5 per cent tariff would increase the cost of Australian goods in the US, making them more expensive for American consumers and importers. 'The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable,' USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer said. 'This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field. We will no longer tolerate this disparity. Some trading partners have taken initial steps to prevent the importation of forced labor goods, including through USMCA and commitments in Agreements on Reciprocal Trade. However, each of our trading partners must do more to ensure that trade does not perversely encourage and entrench forced labor globally.'
Trade Minister Don Farrell spoke with Mr Greer on the sidelines of the OECD ministerial meeting being held in Paris to argue the new import tax was unjustified. 'Australia has robust, comprehensive and world leading legislation addressing forced labour and modern slavery,' he said. 'We continue to use every opportunity to advocate that US tariffs imposed on Australia are unwarranted.'
Other American allies including Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand and the European Union, along with adversaries including China and Russia, are also covered under the latest tariff ruling. Former Australian ambassador to the US Joe Hockey said he'd argued personally with Trump about his tariff policies and warned he was 'not for moving'. 'America is running out of money, and they need to get it from somewhere. And the President of the United States is convinced that foreigners pay tariffs imposed by America, whereas in fact it is American consumers that pay higher prices,' Hockey told ABC Radio National on Thursday.
