Jim Chalmers:
Australia’s interests are best served by more trade, not more trade barriers. And that’s the approach that we take to this. Yes, we have the lowest tariffs from the US around the world, and that’s good for Australia in comparative terms. And most of our trade goes elsewhere.
But we are concerned, we have raised our concern over the course of recent months about the impact on the global economy. The global economy is obviously going through a period of great uncertainty. The tariffs are part of that, but not the only source of that uncertainty. The job for Australia is to make sure that we continue to be the beneficiary of well‑functioning, open global markets for our amazing goods and services.
Karen Tso:
Are you worried that the United States and China are looking to escalate again before any negotiation?
Chalmers:
Obviously, the whole global economy is watching very closely what’s happening between the US and China. And again, it’s our view that nobody wins from a trade war, that tariffs are ultimately self‑defeating. But clearly we’re monitoring what’s happening. And I think it’s noteworthy that in a week where we saw a very substantial de‑escalation in the Middle East, we saw an escalation of trade tensions between the US and China. And that’s obviously of great concern to everyone gathered here in D.C.
Tso:
Australia is a commodities heavyweight. Recently, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that China risked becoming an unreliable partner by throttling rare earths and critical minerals to the rest of the world. Is that a reality when most of the world has been looking at the United States as an unreliable partner now, after Liberation Day trade tariffs?
Chalmers:
I think our American friends have been making a similar point for some time now. From an Australian point of view, we see critical minerals as an extraordinary opportunity for Australia. We’ve got so much to offer the world when it comes to critical minerals. And in order for us to make the most of it, we need to make sure that those markets for critical minerals are robust and reliable and diverse. And that hasn’t always been the case.
And so we will work closely with our partners to make sure we build those more reliable, more robust markets for our critical minerals. That has been a subject of conversations between us and the Americans for some time. And I suspect it will be a matter of conversation when Prime Minister Albanese meets President Trump next week here in Washington D.C..
Tso:
The global economy is being rewired because of trade routes. Does Australia need fresh partnerships? Fresh alliances?
Chalmers:
As we’ve seen these escalating trade tensions, Australia has gone for resilience and relationships, not retaliation. And that’s been a deliberate strategy. Because, as a middle‑sized, trade‑exposed economy, we’ve got a lot to gain from free and open markets; we’ve got a lot to lose from escalating trade tensions. And that has driven our approach throughout.
We’ve got great trading relationships throughout our region and around the world and that has been such an important part of our economic growth to here. It’ll be an important part of our economic growth from here as well. And that’s why all of us, Treasurer, Prime Minister, Trade Minister, Foreign Minister and others put so much effort into nourishing, nurturing those relationships. Because at the end of the day, having those great relationships with trading partners around the world is good for our workers, our businesses and our investors back home.