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What does Trump’s tariff ‘pause’ mean for us — and the world?
So what is Donald Trump’s pause on some tariffs, and what does it mean for Australia?
Trump has now said the US will offer a 90-day reprieve for most countries, and give them a blanket 10% tariff rate instead.
But of course, Australia was already being hit with a 10% tariff, so not much is changing for us in the interim.
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You can see the full list of countries hit by the tariffs and the pause below:
Key events
Henry Belot
ABC says ‘collective Liberal decision’ for Wilson to miss televised debate
Following from our last post…
The ABC’s Raf Epstein has been asked why the Liberal candidate for Goldstein, Tim Wilson, hasn’t appeared at an election debate with the incumbent independent, Zoe Daniel.
We have been talking to [the Liberals] for a while about this. It’s a collective Liberal decision to not be here. It’s up to their volunteers, whether or not they wanted to be here. There are clearly a lot of Zoe Daniel’s supporters here. We threw out the invitation. This is the end result.
Henry Belot
Tim Wilson, Liberal candidate for Goldstein, misses ABC debate with independent Zoe Daniel
One of the hot seats to watch in Melbourne is Goldstein. It’s currently held by the independent Zoe Daniel, but the former Liberal MP Tim Wilson is trying to win it back.
The two politicians were scheduled to appear at an election debate by ABC Melbourne this morning. But Raf Epstein has told the audience that Wilson has “not been made available to us”.
Raf has started by asking Daniel whether she’d rather have a coffee with Peter Dutton or her Liberal opponent, Wilson. Her response:
Peter – because after the election, I may have to negotiate with him and it would be good to have that conversation.
Daniel has again been asked about who she would support in the event of a hung parliament, but she kept her powder dry.
Well I think anyone who works in business or negotiation would know that it would be completely daft for me to give up all my leverage four weeks out from an election, when I might end up in a negotiation the day after it, and also when lots of things can happen in the next month.
Former US ambassador suggests PM should ‘eyeball the president’ to get out of Trump tariff crosshairs – after the election
The former ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos says politicians will have to “wait and see” what Donald Trump does next, as the election in Australia looms.
Sinodinos told ABC News Breakfast earlier that Trump won’t be likely to negotiate “too many deals” because that would “undermine the protective effect” of what the administration is trying to do.
He says the prime minister should only go and “eyeball” the president after 3 May.
I think wait and see at least for now is the right strategy and then once the election in Australia is out of the way, if it’s Albanese re-elected or Dutton elected as prime minister, the leader of Australia has to come to Washington, eyeball the president, and try to work this out leader to leader. That’s the only way you make real breakthroughs with Donald Trump.
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price targets ‘waste’ in Indigenous affairs portfolio and promises ‘reset’ regarding Closing the Gap
The shadow minister for government efficiency, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, has said she’ll audit expenditure in her Indigenous affairs portfolio as the Coalition promises to crack down on spending and “waste” in the public service.
She says she’d work with colleagues in government, if the Coalition won, to work out where there’s “waste”.
It’s about working along with my colleagues in their portfolios to understand the lay of the land within their portfolios. We won’t know until we’re in government exactly what the lay of the land looks like.
If you want to take Closing the Gap, for example, we can see that there’s nothing. There is no progress in that particular area. For me, it’s about a reset across Indigenous Affairs when it comes to Closing the Gap.
Anthony Albanese is up in Cairns this morning, announcing $10m in funding for education and tourism programs for the Great Barrier Reef.
I’m sure they’re hoping the seat of Leichhardt (which Labor is hoping to clinch) will be ‘blown away’ by the announcement.
Coalition announces national debt and regional future funds
The Coalition has announced it would establish two future funds – one to pay down national debt, and the other to invest in regional infrastructure.
The regional Australia future fund (RAFF) would amount to $20bn and spend around $1bn per year on infrastructure to improve access to childcare and healthcare access and increase regional connectivity.
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, told ABC AM a little earlier that some of the money for the fund would come from Australia’s exports:
What we’re saying is that regional Australia is contributing about $350bn worth of exports every year … over the coming four years, we’re going to take a little bit of that to set this fund up that’ll get … a return every year to invest a billion dollars above and beyond the normal … infrastructure spend.
Things got a bit stickier after Sabra Lane asked whether this fund would mirror the previous building better regions program (established by the Liberals and then cancelled by Labor in 2022). Littleproud says it would be similar.
Lane says an auditor general found back in 2022 that “funding decisions weren’t appropriately informed by departmental advice that the basis for funding decisions weren’t appropriately documented and in some cases deficient. It sounds like a pork barreling exercise”. Littleproud immediately gets on the defensive, saying:
I think this is so sad that we’re going to go in and try and tear down regional Australia’s future.
There’s a bit of back and forth on this point, and Littleproud says there “are probity measures” that will ensure the funding is appropriately dispensed.
Albanese announces $10m for Great Barrier Reef education and tourism
The PM is in Cairns this morning, announcing $10m to protect the Great Barrier Reef.
He’s in the seat of Leichhardt, all the way in far north Queensland, which Labor is hoping to clinch from the LNP as its longstanding MP, Warren Entsch, retires.
Albanese tells local radio station 4BC that the funding is focused on education and tourism for the area:
What we are delivering is $10m today we’re announcing for [an] educational experience fund … that will provide $6m for kids, for reef rebates for schools who want to come and see firsthand the magnificence of the Great Barrier Reef.
It provides a million dollars in support for local reef tourism … We want to expand our tourism opportunities.
ASX to soar after tariff pause ignites Wall Street rally
Jonathan Barrett
Australian shares are poised to surge when the market opens, after Donald Trump’s decision to pause his oversized tariffs against most nations sent stock prices rocketing on Wall Street.
Futures prices are pointing to an increase in excess of 6% for the S&P/ASX 200, taking the index above 7,850 points.
Such a move, while adding hundreds of billions of dollars in value to Australian shares, would take the ASX back to levels recorded one week ago – shortly after the new tariff regime was unveiled.
The US stock market soared overnight after Trump unveiled a 90-day pause on tariffs above 10% on dozens of countries, with the notable exception of China. The US president said he would raise US tariffs on Chinese exports to 125%, effective immediately, in response to Beijing’s move to implement 84% tariffs on US goods this week.
The Australian dollar has also recovered significant ground, rising to US61.5c early on Thursday, after threatening to plunge below the US59c barrier earlier this week.
Marles says Albanese ‘focused on’ Australian people when asked if PM has tried to speak to Trump
Richard Marles (he’s back again… this time on RN Breakfast), is asked whether Albanese has requested a call with Trump since the latest tariffs were announced. The deputy prime minister says that Labor is now “focused” on the Australian people, ahead of the election, which is just over three weeks away.
Ie no, Albanese hasn’t requested a call since then:
We continuously advocate to the United States through the representatives of the government. It’s fair to say right now Anthony Albanese is focused on his conversation with the Australian people as we move towards the federal election on 3 May.
What does Trump’s tariff ‘pause’ mean for us — and the world?
So what is Donald Trump’s pause on some tariffs, and what does it mean for Australia?
Trump has now said the US will offer a 90-day reprieve for most countries, and give them a blanket 10% tariff rate instead.
But of course, Australia was already being hit with a 10% tariff, so not much is changing for us in the interim.
You can see the full list of countries hit by the tariffs and the pause below:
Dutton says ex-candidate dumped for ‘deeply concerning’ views not yet made public
Sarah Basford Canales
Peter Dutton has revealed the former Liberal candidate for Whitlam, Ben Britton, was dumped for holding “deeply concerning” views not in the public domain.
Speaking on 2GB this morning, the opposition leader would not reveal further details about why Britton was dumped but said they were not in line with party values. Dutton said:
There are a number of views that Ben’s expressed that I don’t agree with, and they were the grounds on which his candidacy were canceled, some of them not in the public domain, and I think they’re deeply concerning, and that was the decision that was made. And we have to make sure that our candidates reflect our party’s values. And that wasn’t the case in relation to this candidate, and we moved to resolve it.
The show’s host, Ben Fordham, asked why Britton was swiftly disendorsed after Guardian Australia reported comments he made on a fringe podcast months before his preselection last year. Dutton said:
Well Ben, it’s hard, because I’m not going to comment on some of the views that Ben has, but they are not consistent with the values of the Liberal party or our supporters. And as a leader of the party, my responsibility is to act where I see a problem. We’ve done that, and we’ve done it with respect, but it was necessary.
Britton expressed a string of controversial views on fringe podcasts before his preselection, including the claim that women should not serve in combat positions with the Australian Defence Force. The former candidate, who will now run as an independent in the NSW seat, claimed his dumping was a “witch hunt” and that the party’s NSW division was stabbing Dutton in the back.
Britton has since been replaced by Nathaniel Smith, a former NSW MP from the party’s religious right faction, who has claimed school students are being “brainwashed” by Marxist and woke ideologies.
Deputy PM says government could use powers if Chinese-owned company does not divest from the port of Darwin
Asked about the port of Darwin, which is still under a 99-year lease by Chinese owned company Landbridge, Marles says Labor wants to see a “commercial agreement where Landbridge sells out”.
The port was leased in 2015 by the former Northern Territory government, under the Liberal party.
Peter Dutton has since called that decision a mistake, while Anthony Albanese has said the Liberal party shouldn’t have “flogged” it off.
Marles tells News Breakfast that “one way or another” it will be returned to Australian hands.
It was a mistake by the Liberals to put the port of Darwin into Chinese hands. The actual lease is between the Territory government and Landbridge. We would like to see a commercial arrangement here where Landbridge sells out and that’s something we will pursue. But at the end of the day, the commonwealth does have powers here and if needs be, we will exercise those powers.
In recent days, the port’s operator has accused the major party leaders of treating it like “a political football”.
Marles says US defence alliance seperate to trade relationship
Marles is taking one for the Labor team this morning, and is on morning media duty.
He’s now moved over to ABC News Breakfast, where he repeats that the government is focused on diversifying trade – and also spruiks the five-point response plan Labor announced last week.
There have been growing concerns about the reliability of the US as a defence partner, but Marles says the defence relationship is separate to the trade relationship.
Our relationship with the United States under the banner of the alliance [is] on its own terms and, in fact, you know we’re optimistic about that going forward. I met with my counterpart more than a month ago now in Washington, and had a really positive conversation about how we can walk forward together with the United States in terms of pursuing the alliance.
Richard Marles declines to say whether Trump ‘a genius or a nutbag’
Over on the Today show, the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, gets asked: “Is Donald Trump a genius or a nutbag?”
The question doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for Marles to move, so he just says “he’s [Trump’s] the president of the United States, and we will just keep pushing Australia’s interests”. (Diplomatic breakdown avoided …)
Trump’s paused some tariffs but has increasing the levy on Chinese imports to 125%.
China’s ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, wrote an op-ed in Nine newspapers this morning calling for Canberra and Beijing to “join hands” in response to Trump.
Marles is asked whether Australia will work more closely with China.
I don’t think we’ll be holding China’s hand. We don’t want to see a trade war between America and China, to be clear, but our focus is on actually diversifying our trade. We’re doing a lot more in south-east Asia with countries like Indonesia, which is a massive potential market on our doorstep. We’re about to sign a new trade agreement with India.
Bridget McKenzie says Coalition better at weathering overseas economic storms
Trump’s tariffs are the order of the morning, and the shadow infrastructure minister, Bridget McKenzie, is up on ABC News Breakfast, arguing that there needs to be a government who can strengthen the economy to weather the global economic storms.
The party has been using the line that households have been in a per-capita recession for more than a year, meaning the economy is weaker than it was under the previous government.
What you need to ensure is that your nation has a buffer, if you like, to actually deal with weathering these type of storms from overseas. We need to make sure that our economy is strong – what we have seen is that it is weaker over the last three years.
The Coalition has announced a future fund policy – two funds to help pay down debt and set up regional infrastructure.
Host Bridget Brennan asks McKenzie how that funding would be distributed fairly to regional areas. McKenzie, under the previous Morrison government, had previously used a Community Sport Infrastructure Grant Program to fund projects in key and marginal seats. She quit cabinet and resigned as deputy Nationals leader at the time. McKenzie says this funding should not just go to Nationals seats.
It shouldn’t go to seats that are just held by Liberal and National party members, it should be about the 9 million of us that don’t live in capital cities. Actually having a fair share of investment from the resources that our nation supplies to global markets.
It’s a legislated fund with an independent analysis of the impact of any government’s decision-making on the state of the regions, that will be tabled in parliament, and this information will inform ministers on where they need to invest that money.
Daisy Dumas
ACTU report says wages would have been lower under Coalition
Australian workers would be $8,700 worse off had Peter Dutton achieved his goal of blocking major government reforms that boosted wages, new research shows.
The Getting Wages Moving: And the $8,700 risk of Peter Dutton report by the Australian Council of Trade Unions, released today, shows that wages have grown by 3.7% since Labor came to power in 2022, while in the decade prior, under the Coalition government, they grew 2.1%. Under the Rudd and Gillard governments, wage growth averaged 3.6%.
According to the ACTU report, wages have grown across all industries since 2022 owing to five key policy changes including intervention in annual wage reviews and Secure Jobs, Better Pay reforms – all of which the report claims are not supported by the Coalition.
The union’s secretary, Sally McManus, said that the report “confirms just how much lower wages would have been had Peter Dutton’s policies been in place”.
In a statement, she said:
While workers are doing it tough, he would have made things a lot worse by keeping wage rises low and allowed big business to continue using their wage-cutting loopholes.
At a time of global uncertainty, it’s even more important for workers to have the confidence that the gains they’ve been making over the last three years continue. We do not need Peter Dutton importing more of that uncertainty here.
Good morning
Krishani Dhanji
Krishani Dhanji here with you, as Donald Trump continues to dominate the Australian election campaign.
From last night’s treasurers’ debate, where the tariffs dominated, to Trump putting a pause on some of those tariffs early this morning, we can’t seem to get enough of the issue.
And the Australian Council of Trade Unions has released research on wages, and how much lower they might be under a Coalition government (they’re saying wages would be about $8,700 lower).
We’ll follow all that this morning.