Donald Trump tariff news: Australia escapes higher tariffs under latest announcement, 10 percent base remains
In an executive order issued on Friday morning, Australia time, Mr Trump changed the 'reciprocal tariff' rates for countries that had faced higher than 10 per cent but had managed to strike deals with his administration.
All countries, including Australia, will be slapped with a 10 per cent tariff and many have been hit with higher rates.
'President Trump's bold trade strategy has yielded historic agreements with major trading partners, unlocking unprecedented investments in the United States and expanding market access for American goods,' a White House statement said.
At the start of the week, Mr Trump told reporters while in Scotland that he was contemplating making the base tariff rate for all countries 15-20 per cent.
The Australian Government's message has consistently been that it sees the US tariffs as an act of 'economic self-harm' and points out that the US sells vastly more into Australia than vice versa.
'We'll all see the announcement shortly, that'll be a sovereign decision taken by the United States. Obviously, if it were reciprocal, it would be at zero,' Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told reporters earlier on Friday morning.
Since first announcing the tariffs in April and subsequently extending the deadline to August 1, Mr Trump has struck a deal with the EU, Japan, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, and Vietnam.
Apart from the UK, all these countries have now been hit with tariffs of between 15 and 20 per cent.
All up, America will impose higher tariffs on 66 countries and every other nation will be hit with the 10 per cent rate starting from midnight Washington time on August 7.
Syria has been slapped with the highest tariff in Mr Trump's latest list, 41 per cent, while Laos and Myanmar copped 40 per cent.
A separate executive order Mr Trump signed in May imposed a 34 per cent tariff on goods from China.
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