‘Send a message to President Trump’: Bill Shorten urges Albanese to play hardball with US on tariffs

Former Labor minister says Australia should consider applying its own tariffs in retaliation against those placed on steel and aluminium

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Former Labor minister Bill Shorten says the government should push back" harder on Donald Trump by slapping our own dollar-for-dollar" tariffs on American products, in retaliation for those placed on Australian steel and aluminium.

Governments worldwide and global markets are still reeling from the dizzying array of tariffs and trade barriers enacted by Trump in the first months of his new presidency. Confirmation this week that Australia would not receive a highly anticipated exemption from steel and aluminium tariffs was a blow to the Albanese government on the eve of the federal election, after weeks of high-level negotiations with the Trump administration.

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