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April 3, 2025
Transcript – Sky News First Edition
03 April 2025
E&OE
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Let's get a Coalition response now, joining us is the Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson. James, you've seen what Donald Trump has said this morning, and Australia has been targeted. What do you make of it?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, good morning, Pete. This is a disappointing decision to target Australia, among other nations, with a 10% tariff that the president has described as a reciprocal tariff. I'm concerned that it will be damaging both for the Australia-US trading relationship and also for the global economy. We know that tariffs depress global trade. And as an open trading nation, Australia benefits from free trade. I am concerned it's been described, of course, as a reciprocal tariff because Australia does not have any tariffs on the United States. We have an excellent free trade agreement secured by the Howard government with the United States that removed almost all barriers to trade, including any tariffs. And I am also especially concerned by the references that the President made to beef exports from Australia to the United States. It's not yet clear from the President's remarks at the Rose Garden what he has in mind specifically for Australian beef, and we need to establish those facts before we consider what steps we should take next.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
No, that's true, and yeah I think we're just presuming here that it's 10% across the board but you're quite right, there wasn't a specific reference to how much extra our beef would be now but you did point that out and I'm wondering does American beef still pose a risk to Australian consumers here because it has long been banned.
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, the Coalition Government under Peter Dutton would follow the advice of our Agriculture Department and our biosecurity officers, and there will be no compromise on biosecurity under a Dutton Coalition Government. If the advice continues to be that there are biosecurity risks, then we would stand by those protections because Australia has a unique advantage of being an island nation. We have an opportunity to control both the flow of people and goods into our country that many other countries do not have, and as a result, we have one of the world's best agricultural industries, remarkably disease-free, and that's something we always have to stand by and defend.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay, so I know you've said that you wouldn't support reciprocal tariffs again. Does this change your view at all?
JAMES PATERSON:
No, I think reciprocal tariffs would do us as much harm as it would do anyone else. And we don't want to get into a tit-for-tat with escalating tariffs on each other, on trading partners. What I think we should do is continue to work calmly and directly with the US administration to try and secure a better deal for Australia. Because Australia is a unique ally and trading partner of the United States. Not only are we a critically important security partner for the United States, but we're one of those rare nations where the United States has had an almost unbroken trade surplus with for decades. It's an immensely beneficial trading relationship to both Australia and the United States, and we should continue to work and see if we can secure an exemption from these tariffs.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Would you support taking this to the WTO?
JAMES PATERSON:
Look, I think the first and most important thing Pete is to establish the facts, and we don't yet have all the facts. We know at the very least that we're going to be subject to a 10% tariff, but we don't know any other specific actions about any other industries or sectors in Australia. The first thing we need to do is to establish that, and then we can consider any appropriate response.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Right, because I mean, do you support the claim there that Annelise pointed out, that Joe Biden, the previous administration, basically watered down the process to the WTO, so would that be a fruitless task anyway?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, it's certainly true that the United States has been a sometimes sceptical participant in the World Trade Organisation process, and we would have to consider very carefully how we could utilise those rights to prosecute these issues, to hopefully resolve these issues. We could also consider the opportunities we have through our bilateral free trade agreement. But I think the most important thing is the direct relationship that we have and are able to build on with the President and with our other friends in the United States. And I do think it would assist in achieving that for having direct face-to-face talks between the Australian Prime Minister and the American President. Just hoping for an exemption is not a plan, and just leaving this to officials is not adequate. And I think we do need strong leadership to deal with this. President Trump, we know, respects strength. In Peter Dutton, we will have a strong Prime Minister. In Anthony Albanese, we clearly have a weak one.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay, so just a planning note here, and thank you, James, appreciate that.
ENDS