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.
this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2025
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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.
It sucks but it is what it is. Being an island nation dependant on imports, we don't have much weight to throw around without self destructing with our already fucked cost of living crisis.
I can see what they're going for. We have a good history of exemptions, and getting another one would be a big win domestically with an election looming. You might think there's no way it will happen, but we do hold some cards, so to speak. I wouldn't be surprised if in more private negotiations they're threatening to close Pine Gap or cancel other cooperative military arrangements.
Retaliatory tariffs just aren't our best option.
if you look at the numbers, Canada's not that far from Australia. they've only instituted a tariff on like 10% of American imports
Huh? Canada retaliated dollar for dollar.
The federal government’s countermeasures will come into effect at 12:01 a.m. on March 13. The 25 per cent tariffs will hit steel products worth $12.6 billion and aluminum products worth $3 billion.
In addition, Canada is hitting another $14.2 billion worth of imported U.S. goods with fresh tariffs, totalling $29.8 billion in retaliation.
I wasnt aware new ones from yesterday. It was for $30B, though. Combined with the last set of tariffs its $60B total out of $350B of US exports to Canada
So about 17%. So let's say Canads is at a conservative 3 generous 4
Why do most people here seem to agree that Trump's tarrifs are stupid and brash, yet Australia's leadership deeming retaliatory tarrifs would be the same is 'gutless and weak'?
This is just smart leadership on Australia's part. We are a trade surplus partner with USA - meaning we import more from the US than we export, and importantly the targets of the tarriffs are only a small fraction of our exports to the US.
So, to create knee-jerk retaliatory tarrifs on the US for the sake of assisting a very small sliver of our exports would be truly shooting ourselves in the foot.
Have a look at our iron ore export leading markets and look for the USA to see how much we need them:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1149300/australia-leading-iron-ore-export-destinations/
Now add up ALL iron, steel aluminium, and 'ores' from this list of all Aus -> US exports: https://tradingeconomics.com/australia/exports/united-states
Sum total: ~$550mil of our $14.7billion exports to the US in 2024 were aluminium or steel or their ores. So a 25% tarrif on 3.7% of our exports? To a country we have a trade surplus with?
Its not worth us tariffing them, would hurt us far more than we gain, and our top economists agree - saying "retaliatory tarrifs would be an act of self-sabotage" https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-02/treasury-came-armed-with-a-warning-politicians-dragged-them-mud/104995418
Because if Trump gets his way with tariffs he will move emboldened onto whatever his next stupid strategy is probably something like trying to dismantle Nato or whatever. However if all the world retaliates together to this bully then he will know what will happen next time he starts doing stupid shit. classic school yard bully situation in some sense. If the bullied is left alone and others don't react in unison then the bully will continue to bully.
I'm Australia's regard, what the bully is doing is hurting himself more that his victim.
If the bully punches himself in the face I'm not gonna punch myself in the face to prevent him being emboldened.
As an aside, I don't know why people think that a market capitalism solution is what will stop Trump. The whole world won't just stop buying US-made products in unison and the NASDAQ drops precipitously and Trump announces "oh dear, i will stop doing a fascism and be a good boy from now on". This is a fantasy that does not map to the real world.
Look at how tarrifs have affected Putin or Kim Jong Il: barely at all. Yes, their people suffer, but the leaders make new trade deals with different counties so their personal wealth in largely unaffected. Meanwhile they have big propaganda wins as it feeds right into their party narrative that the 'rest of the world is against us', 'the elites are conspiring at the WTO'. And those countries have been heavily targeted by tariff schemes for decades, how long you guys want Trump? Historically the only way authoritarian regimes are brought down is via internal conflict or war.
However if all the world retaliates together to this bully then he will know what will happen next time he starts doing stupid shit. classic school yard bully situation in some sense.
You’re assuming Trump is capable of learning the types of lessons that schoolyard bullies learn.
Are they looking at any nontariff measures?
And I don't wanna talk to an economist, y'all motherfuckers lyin' and gettin' me pissed
I would have preferred a harder stance from us on this tbh.
Why not?
If Europe, Canada, Mexico, China and Australia raise tarifs for the US it'll push itself into bankruptcy faster than you can say "Cheeto and Elmo are sad losers"
The Australian leadership is deathly afraid of the CCP. They will suck Trump's balls dry for the sake of national security.
And do they actually think Trump will lift a finger to step in on their behalf?
I'd give it 60/40 odds he just used the diversion to try to annex more land.
I think they hope so, but other major US allies in the region do not seem so sure.
T is only looking out for himself, Will only look out for himself. If Australia asked the US to step in in a CCP invasion, Australia would be forced to agree to become the 51st state, so once he mobilized the military he could take all of the AUS resources.
Gutless Australian Government
Just wait till we vote in that asshole Peter Dutton, he will just copy Trump and put tariffs on our allies too.
Were just as fucked as you guys are.
Clearly some countries didn’t get the memo. Guess it’s time to update the list of limp-wrist cunts for future reference. UK and Australia are really showing their true colours in all this.
It's not our responsibility to damage our own economy for an empty symbolic gesture
For sure. Every country for itself. Just remember that in the near future when China is parked on your coastline and causing problems for all of you. I’ll be writing my MP urging them to stay out of it since we trade with China and generally get along. Cheers.
Trump does not understand or respect symbolic gestures in trade/deals, and you're complaining that we won't make one at our significant detriment. Considering you and Mexico are the biggest importers from the United States, well targeted retaliatory tariffs have a real chance of hurting the US and enacting change. We import 10 times fewer goods (20 times if you include Mexico) and have a 2:1 trade deficit, so we don't have the power to significantly affect the US in the same way you do, and our treasury has made it pretty clear we'd probably be the only ones hurt by such a policy.
We have better, actually effective ways to enact change (i.e. threatening Pine Gap, AUKUS, etc). So why do you expect us to damage our own economy for the sake of a symbolic gesture?
Not sure why you keep trying to justify it. I said I get and to do what you must. And we will do the same. Just accept that we won’t particularly care what happens to you all the way over on the other side. The commonwealth is truly dead.
Your pathetic government wont do anything about pine gap. Keep thinking you have a spine. BTW, how are those US subs coming along.
It's weird you think China is some kind of gotcha, because if the best the Canadian government could do in the unlikely future where "China is parked on [Australia's] coastline" is a symbolic gesture that hurts its own citizens, I would rather you wouldn't. So again, why do you expect us to damage our own economy for the sake of a symbolic gesture?
So much for the democratic nations coalescing against evil - traitors.
The US imports more metal from Australia than we export. This will just shoot the US in the foot and will further incentivize the plan to build up Australian manufacturing. It makes perfect sense why they wouldn't retaliate.
Haha, pussies!
*paussies
Certainly they can find better sources of metal than shipping it halfway around the world.
Come on Australia, hit us back please. We need to learn a lesson on a global scale.