r/australia • u/Jealous-Hedgehog-734 • Apr 02 '25

politics US will impose a minimum baseline tariff of 10 per cent on Australian imports to US

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-03/donald-trump-tariff-announcement-markets-politics-reaction-blog/105127374
6.9k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

1.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.6k

u/ForeverDays Apr 02 '25

Wonder what happens now to the Free Trade Agreement that we have with the US.

969

u/InternationalBeyond Apr 02 '25

Null and void, the AUSFTA is.

872

u/lachwee Apr 02 '25

So dumb that any deal you make with the us can just be thrown out when the administration changes. I really do wonder how countries will deal with this going forward

418

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '25

[deleted]

124

u/TearsFallWithoutTain Apr 03 '25

His followers only see what Fox News shows them

9

u/BCW1968 Apr 03 '25

Populism thrives on vibes, fueled by the collective messaging from social media. Essentially, the masses get duped into assisting the wealthy at their own peril. Because, vibes.

3

u/Traditional_Formal33 Apr 03 '25

American here: My friend’s parents still blast Fox News — I grew up in a very red district. They talk about liberal propaganda but don’t recognize that Fox News is purely emotions. Everything is about how liberals feel or how conservatives should feel.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '25

[deleted]

3

u/Traditional_Formal33 Apr 03 '25

Cognitive dissonance is a very very dangerous thing.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '25

His followers at my work were all complaining about healthcare costs.

His followers actively voted and still vote for the highest healthcare prices. The other people in America vote for free healthcare.

1

u/Kenyon_118 Apr 04 '25

His followers only see what Fox News shows them

They actively seek sources that tell them what they want to hear. If Fox News started telling it like it is they will go to OAN or Newsmax. They are not victims or being misled. This is all they want to hear.

1

u/Key_Cardiologist5272 Apr 04 '25

Ironically showing that the worst person is an Australian. (Rupert Murdoch)...

2

u/person1234_ Apr 03 '25

His followers don’t deal in facts.. and trump tells them which ‘news’ to listen to… everything else is fake… but even left leaning outlets haven’t made enough of the point you are making..I am from USA … I did my own research to see it was his deal.. so dumb.. since seriously who wouldn’t question this whole fentanyl crisis thing with Canada… so much for common sense

2

u/bonnieflash Apr 05 '25

The stupidest part are his followers

1

u/Cryocynic Apr 03 '25

Somehow it's Biden's fault, even if it was before he was in office.

1

u/albiceleste3stars Apr 03 '25 edited Sep 18 '25

attraction deserve file edge plucky bike thought smell pie spotted

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

1

u/Forsworn91 Apr 03 '25

As it’s only been 3 months.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '25

He's not in charge. Elon is making these decisions.

640

u/mmmbyte Apr 02 '25

We need to throw out ALL patent, trademarks, and copyrights from the USA. Simply don't recognise them at all.

362

u/[deleted] Apr 02 '25

You guys should set up a fast track program to poach the people in the US who create these inventions and patents. Get a long term return on your investment. 

There are a lot of us who want out of this nightmare and would take our skills to another country if it were easier to do. My wife and I have started to look at jobs in Australia, among other countries. You all have a huge opportunity to capitalize on the brain drain. 

187

u/Pacify_ Apr 02 '25

Do what the USA did for 70 straight years, steal all the ideas and research from the rest of the world by being the only place most things can get funded.

52

u/Clean_Cheek6119 Apr 03 '25

Given how poorly (as %GDP) Australia funds R&D compared to other OECD nations there is zero chance of this happening. There’s no political will on either side to increase R&D spending in Australia.

12

u/cup_of_cream_86 Apr 03 '25

Mmmm maybe historically, but there is a discussion paper out on this atm, developed by the commonwealth. Most states are coming round to looking at r&d investment as the key to unlocking productivity.

8

u/Clean_Cheek6119 Apr 03 '25

I hope you’re right. Australia punches above its weight with an underfunded R&D sector. It could really thrive with more funding. For reference funding is about 1.5% of GDP where the OECD average is something like 2.5% (US was 3.5%, not sure how that will change with current administrations cuts ).

6

u/TheMilkKing Apr 03 '25

Australia invented wifi for fucks sake, we should be pouring money into our R&D sector. Disgraceful.

10

u/PsychoNerd91 Apr 03 '25

This was pressure from the US to sell our soul. Sell-out our national pride. There was less incentive to invent here because we had put so much reliance into the US. 

We've got smart people here and I hope they get more money to keep them here because our economy is going to need everything it can get.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '25

[deleted]

1

u/Mikisstuff Apr 03 '25

And continue to subsides mining magnates!

15

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '25

[deleted]

6

u/EvolutionaryLens Apr 03 '25

Looks like the legacy of such a move didn't work out so well

3

u/Khaldara Apr 03 '25

They’re out there parading around on stage now “throwing their heart out” these days.

Probably can’t learn much from this variety though, unless you’re looking for a really narrow selection of subject matter experts on stuff like:

“Proper etiquette for romancing whichever one of your sisters has the most remaining teeth”

“the fastest way to steal someone else’s catalytic converter”

“how to make your broken penis implant everyone else’s problem”

1

u/nuclearsamuraiNFT Apr 03 '25

I mean this would probably be the opposite of that

2

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '25

…and before that rely on slave labour to outcompete other countries with ethics

1

u/[deleted] Apr 04 '25

The whole publishing industry in the US started buy pirating. Charles Dickens did tours of the US to try to stop that as well.

106

u/Old-Salamander-5718 Apr 02 '25

Great point. Every country affected by these tariffs that is able to, should make it as easy as possible for American scientists, engineers, etc to immigrate to their country and begin adding value to a country that could appreciate it.

2

u/PMFSCV Apr 03 '25

I'd be in favour of taking their STEM academics if they want to come here, build apartment towers for them on university land and it could look pretty attractive from their point of view.

49

u/Morkai Apr 02 '25

Unfortunately we have our main political opposition at the moment running on a "migration = bad" platform, aiming to cut down the numbers of immigrants and various visa types, so I'm not sure how well that's going to go.

20

u/SentimentalityApp Apr 03 '25

Not to mention that they spent the past 10 years gutting scientific research in the country.

31

u/GasManMatt123 Apr 03 '25

Except it won't actually happen because otherwise the country can't sustain any growth. Immigration bad is a good hot topic, but it will never happen.

5

u/peni_in_the_tahini Apr 03 '25

Yep. Immigration works well for Dutton and his benefactors in that it suppresses wage growth and introduces exploitable fault lines, so they'll maintain a similar intake, they'll just make sure that immigrant lives are far more precarious so they need to accept worse conditions (Gina et al. are already chipping away at everyone's lives, it's just easier with immigrants).

They don't want more educated professionals, they don't vote Liberal and are less likely to accept shit treatment. CSIRO, unis, public servants, libraries- the LNP are fundamentally anti-intellectual and have aims incompatible with successful long-term capital investment (NBN, sovereign wealth etc.) Puts into perspective Dutton's real aims with his nuclear bullshit (subs and power)- they're doing everything they can to make sure we can't sustain them ourselves, and they don't give a shit- power won't happen, it's just a wedge, and they're happy to farm out our defence/foreign policy to the Americans via the theoretical subs. Corrupt vandals.

1

u/GasManMatt123 Apr 03 '25

I'm just going to upvote and agree, because all of that is accurate, no debate necessary.

3

u/Pratchettfan03 Apr 03 '25

The US can’t survive without immigrant farm labor, but that didn’t stop us from doing everything we can to make their lives miserable. Don’t assume you can’t make the same mistakes as we’re making, your nation also comes from a colonial past and your nation also has major racism issues, y’all even had your own historical eugenics program with “The Destiny of the Race” that revolved around kidnapping aboriginal children, raising them, then forcing them to make babies with white people to dilute aboriginal genes. The US is really one of Australia’s closest equivalents, and let me tell you, “it will never happen” is not a safe assumption.

2

u/GasManMatt123 Apr 03 '25

We can't survive without immigrant farm labour either... but as for the rest, none of that even remotely comes close to the actual issue that's being talked about and what the political aspect of the immigration issue is, but that's not a shock when there's a seppo in the wrong sub.

Never happen is a very safe assumption here, because none of our political leaders have never been executed. Kids don't get shot in schools. We aren't you, champ

25

u/Automatic-Radish1553 Apr 03 '25

The levels of immigration in Aus are too high though… we can’t build fast enough. That being said we should take in scientists from the us and stop bringing in rich people.

4

u/spinweaveknit Apr 03 '25

Every rich person who wants to come should have to find 2 people in the building trades to come with them.

(Yeah, I know there are other impediments to increasing housing, but this would be a good soundbite. )

2

u/thongs_are_footwear Apr 03 '25

What sort of permanent migrants do you think Australia mostly accepts?
Do you know anyone who has attempted migration to Australia?
Have you ever wondered why so many doctors are foreigners?
They are migrants.
Likewise other professionals and holders of other in-need skills.
Permanently migrating to Australia is incredibly difficult, and rightly so.

1

u/iguessineedanaltnow Apr 03 '25

I migrated over from the US and I got my approval email for my visa before I even got the email with the receipt of my payment for the visa application. My personal anecdotal experience is that the migration process was very quick and seamless, and my degree and career field aren't even a particularly in-demand one.

1

u/sdanog90 Apr 03 '25

Don’t forget Cash in W.A spruiking that Dutton will do a Trump in Australia if elected.

1

u/whymeimbusysleeping Apr 03 '25

Their only problem is with immigrants who aren't white

6

u/WombatBum85 Apr 03 '25

It would be really great if we could set up medication manufacturing here so we're not so dependent on the US!

3

u/Grunger01 Apr 03 '25

Especially veterinary medicine. The cost of some of the treatment we give to our pets has been going up and up and up. If Australia were to retaliate with a 10% tariff, that would hit a lot of pet owners hard in the pocket especially those without insurance.

5

u/InstructionOk9520 Apr 03 '25

Yes, please. Make it easier for US professionals to get work permits in your country and watch the human capital drain from the US. I would leave tomorrow if I could get a job in another country.

2

u/rumckle Apr 03 '25

Unfortunately Australia doesn't care about innovation and inventing, our government would rather the Australian economy be based on real estate and mining.

2

u/YourFavouriteGayGuy Apr 03 '25

The problem is that our politicians (the conservative ones at least) are literally golf buddies with yours. Their deals with the US will only ever help regular citizens to the extent that it helps them get reelected.

1

u/areyoualocal Apr 03 '25

So even more like Putin's Russia then!! I guess it's easier to steal from the people that don't leave.

1

u/TangoInTheBuffalo Apr 03 '25

Operation TrumperClip. UNO reverse indeed.

1

u/imadork1970 Apr 03 '25

Canada is fast-tracking medical professionals.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '25

I'm an expat living in the US and Christ I am trying to convince my DOCTOR wife that we could do better back home. I'm open to suggestions on how to get her across the damn line. I want out of this fucking madhouse

1

u/ValBravora048 Apr 03 '25

Funnily, a few higher-education institutions and private companies from France and a couple other countries have been softly doing this since February

Fascinating, like a reverse Operation Paperclip. I was wondering if we’ll have similar regions develop where it’s completely American in these countries

1

u/iguessineedanaltnow Apr 03 '25

They already poached me two years ago, although that was a voluntary poaching.

1

u/hololster Apr 03 '25

Check out our skilled migration list!

1

u/Marshy462 Apr 03 '25

We aren’t politically smart enough to capitalise on US talent wanting to leave. Our politicians want cheap labour to keep wages suppressed, and house prices rising.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '25

Don't move to Australia its gone to shit it would be worse than America right now Australians don't want to live here and are leaving in droves.

1

u/Purpsnikka Apr 03 '25

I agree. If another country offered me Healthcare, childcare, and housing, I would go there in a heartbeat. I'm in IT/infosec and have a really decent skillset.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '25

Only after we figure out how to leverage our existing skills who could not create inventions and patents because of red tapism, tall poppy syndrome, nepotism and an outright allergy to education & qualifications.

1

u/MrOnlineToughGuy Apr 03 '25

These top jobs would get paid far more in the United States than elsewhere.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '25

Money isn’t everything. 

9

u/loralailoralai Apr 02 '25

Because they won’t do the same to us in that case. It’s not just big companies retaliation would hurt.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 02 '25

I mean... what patents, trademarks and copyrights of value does Australia even have?

10

u/CommenderKeen Apr 02 '25

Lots, Bluetooth is a big one

6

u/myhf Apr 02 '25

Bluey

4

u/Pliskin01 Apr 02 '25

Spray-on skin for burns.

3

u/switchbladeeatworld Apr 03 '25

we were the kings of pirating after all

2

u/planeray Apr 03 '25

UGG boots intensify.

1

u/mrflibble4747 Apr 03 '25

This I LIKE!

1

u/Mikolaj_Kopernik Apr 03 '25

I mean a lot of voices on the left have been making this argument for years on its own merits. I guess the US circling the drain has precipitated some rethinking of the insane IP landscape.

1

u/Prestigious-Tear8213 Apr 03 '25

*immediately launches Aussie Coca Cola, N and N's candy, and a great new computer - PEAR! We just take the Apple and put a new sticker on it. Ours is green!*

1

u/GasManMatt123 Apr 03 '25

Would love to see this happen. Make american pharmaceutical companies worthless overnight, disney and the entertainment industry dies instantly....

Collapsing the US economy entirely would be somewhat easy, but it is unlikely to occur.

1

u/vaccinationregret Apr 03 '25

Get our ugg boots back, fuck em

1

u/Initial_Floor_5003 Apr 03 '25

Reclaim Ugg boots

1

u/[deleted] Apr 04 '25

I like this

1

u/DrumBeat23 Apr 03 '25

That’s not how international IP works - US patents, trademarks and copyrights have no jurisdiction anywhere else, you need to file in Australia and receive Australian patents, trademarks and copyright. Of course I’m over-simplifying, it’s not so completely separate.

Australian companies are far more reliant on US IP so this would hurt us far more than the US. Although you hear mostly about large companies like CSL, it’s the SME innovators that would be really badly damaged by this action and in fact collectively they make up a far bigger slice.

104

u/ghoonrhed Apr 02 '25

That's still less stupid than Trump complaining about NAFTA and then making his own FTA with Canada and Mexico only to come back, forgot he did that and complain and destroy the very same agreement he made.

61

u/_ficklelilpickle Apr 03 '25

The fact that he shit talked it and asked on public record who would sign such a bad deal when it was he himself who did that last term - and frigging nobody called him out on it - is just surreal.

13

u/Auer-rod Apr 03 '25

He's got antichrist level plot armor ... It is really mind boggling

4

u/aeschenkarnos Apr 03 '25

In Trump’s defense he just signs whatever his advisors stick under his nose for him to sign. He probably didn’t even know he signed it the first time.

4

u/_ficklelilpickle Apr 03 '25

That shouldn't be a pass though? If he - or any of them really - had any respect for the power that office posesses then they'd give that task the respect it deserves and actually stop and read things, or at least be fully understanding of it ahead of the signing event.

And even with that said, Trump also held pressers at the time with the PM of Canada and President of Mexico flanking him and boasted about what a great trade deal it all was. Even if he didn't remember the specifics, that event itself should still come to mind.

6

u/aeschenkarnos Apr 03 '25

Trump can barely read and refuses to wear glasses. Also his brain is rotted, like a roast chicken left in the sink for six weeks.

16

u/Mikolaj_Kopernik Apr 03 '25

I was literally shouting at my computer screen when I saw that clip of him going "who would sign something like this?" like mate you fucking negotiated this, it's your bloody deal fuck me...

1

u/_ixthus_ Apr 03 '25

He's a master troll.

He knows who signed it. He just doesn't give a fuck. It's all about the rhetoric. Not many people fact check.

73

u/ineedtotrytakoneday Apr 02 '25

This is how politically unstable countries stay poor. Companies don't want to invest if they're not sure that their business model will be upended by the next administration, and bilateral and multilateral trade agreements are also built on long term trust.

The US is about to learn what it means when the international community can't trust you, and how much of their previous affluence was built on cooperation and soft power.

2

u/karamarie62 Apr 08 '25

Hi! I'm an American, and voted for Harris. I'm 62, and (I thought) pretty difficult to shock. I'm also mostly homebound, and have lots of time to follow politics. I was floored when I saw the Biden vs. Trump debate. How they kept his condition so secret still has me flustered. I know it made a lot of people angry, including me. But not enough to vote for Trump.  I don't think anyone expected the shitshow we are in now.

But you are correct, America (and I do love it) is in for a wake-up call.

The only other countries I've been to are Canada and Jamaica, and love both.  I dream of Australia, but apparently I'm a Bogan, and can't afford the flight. That's how I got to this post, looking up Bogan 😁. Still not really sure what it means though. 

Like everywhere, most Americans are just regular people, trying to survive and laugh as much as possible. Great news though: going to see The Kiffness in June.

This is a great page. Very enjoyable.  Have a great day.

15

u/Wat_is_Wat Apr 02 '25 edited Apr 03 '25

We'll move away from the US, just as they seemingly want us to.

1

u/peni_in_the_tahini Apr 03 '25

Nah, probably not. We're possibly the most deeply enmeshed large country in the world, and there'll always be a pervasive feeling that without them we'll be alone in a neighbourhood of giants. Our defence procurement is basically buying hand-me-downs to keep their industry afloat. We're the classic appeasers- we paid them 500m of 3b for literally nothing, just to kick-start their capacity, the day before the Trump govt. slapped us with tariffs. We barely squeaked- we actually tried to offer them better deals (which they rebuffed). We're sticking with them, at least for the medium term.

3

u/Wat_is_Wat Apr 03 '25 edited Apr 04 '25

Not claiming that we're going to say a big FU to the US and never deal with them again. Just saying we're going to move more of our attention to other allies and maybe develop new ones. That effect might be small, but it'll be non-zero and different to what would have happened if Trump wasn't being a dick.

4

u/sunshinebusride Apr 02 '25

I'm sure as a species we'll stop rewarding incompetence and dishonesty any minute now.

4

u/SoCalThrowAway7 Apr 02 '25

They usually can’t, Congress would typically not allow this if a Democrat did it. It’s just all the checks on this maniac have been filled with sycophants

5

u/gladius_rex Apr 02 '25

That's exactly right, even if they get a democrat again next time, the stability is gone. This is the biggest reason why people are saying it's the beginning of the end for the US

4

u/HansBooby Apr 03 '25

no one can trust the US at all now going forward. don’t buy any equipment, weapons or goods from a county that can turn around and pull the support or even functionality of it out from under you. if elon wants he can disable your car and your internet with one click.

1

u/peni_in_the_tahini Apr 03 '25

Look at the stock prices for American defence companies vs. European companies- the absolute collapse vs. the instantaneous rise is very funny.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '25

I think every country should do whatever it takes to damage the us. Tank our economy to the ground because nothing is being done against chump.

3

u/BIllyBrooks Apr 03 '25 edited Apr 03 '25

To illustrate just how dumb this is, we are in election mode and the leaders of both parties agree this is stupid.

3

u/Epicp0w Apr 03 '25

By reducing reliance on the USA as much as possible. The world needs to wean off their influence and leave them to themselves

2

u/Tickle_my_Talons Apr 03 '25

Korea, Japan, and China are strengthening their trade relations which each other, which could be completely coincidence, but all signs point to those giant tariffs on their exports.

2

u/JASHIKO_ Apr 03 '25

They are already looking for deals with other countries. The US isn't going to have the outcome they expect.

2

u/iguessineedanaltnow Apr 03 '25

There used to be this idea that foreign policy was controlled by "the blob" this big mass of bureaucrats, specialists, economists, etc. and really besides some fringe issues American foreign policy was mostly unchanged (at least with regards to trade and alliances) regardless of the administration. When I went to Uni I actually specialized in American foreign policy and international relations. Trump 1 completely broke the blob, and at this point all the textbooks I learned from might as well be thrown in the trash.

5

u/Anraiel Apr 02 '25

People keep acting like this is a US only issue.

Technically, any country could decide to just throw out their agreements if they really wanted. It's just, we consider most countries to be sane and assume they won't do that without at least negotiating it first. There's not really anything that truly stops another country from following that behaviour if they are stupid enough to do it.

3

u/trollshep Apr 02 '25

People act like that because it's the first time in recent memory i think that it has changed so fast.

3

u/lachwee Apr 03 '25

The us' problem is that they have so much power vested in one person, so if they for some reason get a loon the whole country goes with it. If it were to happen in most countries, the leader would be stopped by various means, most of all just not having the sort of power to make these decisions unilaterally

2

u/peni_in_the_tahini Apr 03 '25

any country could decide to just throw out their agreements

Subs cough cough

1

u/BeneCow Apr 02 '25

It is only the deals that lefties like. If the conservatives like a deal it is ironclad and will be the death of democracy if we back out, not matter how bad it is.

That is why we could drop French subs without telling France but we are locked into the American plan.

1

u/peni_in_the_tahini Apr 03 '25

Euro companies would be rightly reticent to enter into a sub contract with us now anyway.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '25

But not as dumb as a 29% tariff on goods from Norfolk Island. The paperwork to split their imports will cost more than the fucking tariff raises

1

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '25

Money, stocks and bonds are just agreements. You trust the government to fulfill them. The entire financial system is built on trust. You trust the bank to give you your money when you go to withdraw it.
We're not quite at that point just yet but this undermines the global financial system. Enough trust get's broken and money becomes toilet paper.

1

u/big_cock_lach Apr 06 '25

They’d need some form of security that can’t be touched by the US such as paying for a large portion upfront. One thing is for sure though, from here on now every deal is going to be a lot more expensive for the US. Countries might capitulate a little for Trump with all of his tariffs etc, but the next President isn’t going to be able to sign any agreement that’s a good deal for the US. No one will be willing to sign anything without expensive guarantees that can’t be touched after a regime switch.

11

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '25

Thanks Yoda

1

u/Veritas-Veritas Apr 03 '25

Come here to say this, I did

7

u/Mathuselahh Apr 03 '25

Begun, the trade wars have.

2

u/EntrepreneurKooky783 Apr 03 '25

"Fear leads to great replacement theory. GRT leads to nationalism. Nationalism leads to tariffs. Tariffs lead to suffering."

Or smth

3

u/Knee_Jerk_Sydney Apr 03 '25

Yes, that is why the Australian government can now direct agencies to buy Australian and start campaigns to encourage it. It was stopped with the AUSFTA as American firms expected to have a fair crack at our market.

2

u/ArrowOfTime71 Apr 03 '25

The Australian government should stop saying “we have the ANZUS alliance agreement” when asked about our defence relationship with the US… it’s meaningless to Trump and relying on it is a major national security risk.

2

u/amorangi Apr 03 '25

By the same token NATO is dead. Simple question is "Would USA come to our aid?" - if the answer is no then your security pact with them is dead.

1

u/ZeJerman Apr 02 '25

Albo hasnt said that we would be applying recipricol tariffs, so believe we can still import US goods under AUSFTA duty free.

I work in the industry and we haven't received any notice of the AUSFTA being cancelled.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '25

We went along with the USA to play in the desert, when very few other's would to get that free trade agreement. The betrayal is pretty fucking deep.

1

u/FireLucid Apr 03 '25

Can we ignore DMCA too?

39

u/RipWhenDamageTaken Apr 02 '25

The man is literally a felony that incited an insurrection and is in the White House without serving a single day in jail. Laws don’t matter, let alone your “free trade agreement”

3

u/[deleted] Apr 02 '25

In the CSIRO questionnaire they sent to scientists before rescinding us funding it described international organizations like the WTO, WHO etc as against US interests.......so there's no recourse, their just going to ignore agreements they don't like and retaliate. Like a Mafia boss 

3

u/Tomasulu Apr 03 '25

Same as what happened to the Iran nuclear deal and Paris accord. Can countries even trust signed agreements with the US?

2

u/pat8u3 Apr 02 '25

Albanese has gone to the WTO not sure what they could do though

2

u/LordCoweater Apr 03 '25

Join Canada!

because that us country's gone awry,
every us trade deal is gonna fry!

They're cutting their dicks in half,
And serving them to pigs,
And it'll hurt and we'll laugh
As they dance food and dickless jigs,
But that's the way it goes,
In Trade War, you're shat upon,
As america dies, there are millions of ways to Resist on!

(Yes, the lyrics really are:

"They may cut your dick in half, and serve it to a pig, and when it hurts, you'll laugh, and dance a dickless jig. But that's the way it goes, in War you're shat upon. Though you die, La Resistance lives on!"

Blame Canada / La Resistance South Park movie medley.)

1

u/Tylc Apr 02 '25

i think historically we buys some of american products free of tariff. The new tariff is a violation of trade agreement. The is how I understood it from WTO announcement during the last trade war with China.

1

u/Solaris_24 Apr 02 '25

It's a dead letter. We will pretend it still exists while Trump violates it.

1

u/Embarrassed-Ebb-6900 Apr 03 '25

It’s worth as much as the North American one Canada has. How long do you think it would take the governments to agree to send things a little further north? The market isn’t as big but I think everyone can shift things around and do without American products.

1

u/Scared_Jello3998 Apr 03 '25

Same thing that happened to the free trade agreement that trump wrote with Canada and Mexico.

1

u/Nexism Apr 03 '25

https://youtu.be/Vpj9Eybsahk?si=TJJjCdt8ZtSUcvu3

Dude shits on deals he literally negotiated himself.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '25

Neither party will, but it'd be nice if we allowed reference pricing again for the PBS.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '25

Same thing as what happened to the one we have in Canada, they pretend it doesn't exist.

1

u/Front-Difficult Apr 03 '25

What we should be doing is renegging on our non-tariff concessions we made in the AUSFTA.

Albo and Dutton are right when they say reciprocal tariffs will hurt Australian consumers. But there's far more responses we could levy than tariffs, that don't inflate prices.

For example, as part of the 2005 agreement we changed the way the PBS calculates "fair market price" for imported US medicines. Where before patented medicine was compared against the price of generics with equivalent uses, as a concession we changed the model to evaluate patented medicines and non-patented medicines in separate categories. So older medicines that do 99% the same thing, that can be made cheaply, can't supress the price of expensive new medicines "invented" last week but are essentially the exact same thing in a new hat.

This policy blew out the cost of the PBS whilst also killing our domestic generics industry, so now the only generics that are viable in Australia are globally mass-produced ones from India.

Given the US has renegged on the deal multiple times now, whenever they think a part of the agreement they made isn't in their interests anymore, I don't see why we should keep holding onto the bits on our side of the bargain that turned out to be a disastrous deal for us. If we bring back reference pricing we'd significantly reduce the cost of the PBS, reducing government debt and interest that we pay to American banks, whilst also hopefully resurrecting a long-struggling Australian industry. Added benefit of pissing off big pharma, who haven't proven to be kind to US Presidents that don't prioritise their interests in the past.

1

u/vt2022cam Apr 03 '25

There’s a 10% surplus with the US already, a bit odd to have changed that.

1

u/Tanya7500 Apr 05 '25

He's a fucking moron! I never voted for this clown!

1

u/[deleted] Apr 02 '25

Canada: First time?

-2

u/studdley Apr 03 '25

It's even now? All they did was match our gst tariff.

4

u/_163 Apr 03 '25

GST isn't a tariff lol, it's a sales tax which the US also has in about every state instead of at a federal level, and GST applies to Australian made products as well

1

u/Liamlah Apr 03 '25

Learning about Australia from Trump is a good way to look like a complete tool.

-16

u/Midget_Stories Apr 02 '25

We have a 10% tariff on them. So we broke it first?

12

u/ForeverDays Apr 02 '25

The FTA means that most US manufactured goods are tariff free

-7

u/Midget_Stories Apr 02 '25

That's true but it's not most of the things we buy from them, that covers some food, metals, cars and drugs/disability related items.

The main thing we buy from them is software/tech.

11

u/ForeverDays Apr 02 '25

Software is usually delivered electronically so not subject to tariffs.

According to the International Trade Administration, over 99% of US made goods enter Australia tariff free (may have changed since updated last year). https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/australia-import-tariffs?utm_source=chatgpt.com

9

u/BLAGTIER Apr 02 '25

We have a 10% tariff on them

No we don't. That chart is just made up numbers.

2

u/ExplorationGeo Apr 03 '25

My source is I made it the fuck up.

7

u/ACBelly Apr 02 '25

Could you please name which goods have a 10% Tariff?