Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says U.S. tariffs on Australian steel and aluminum are unjustified, but his government will not retaliate with its own tariffs.
A tariff is a tax on the country imposing the tariff. The only way it actually hurts the country that the tariff is placed against, is if people stop buying the foreign products. But in the case of a tax on steel or aluminum, that would require people to avoid all products made with foreign steel/aluminum. This is nearly impossible. So it only hurts Australians in this case.
Plus that’s not how capitalism works. A real example from Trump’s first term was a tariff imposed on washing machines. The tariff made foreign washing machines more expensive than domestic ones. So far, so good. What did American companies do? Raised the price of domestic washing machines to match that of foreign ones in a greedy grab for profits. This meant the incentive to buy American washing machines was nullified. You know what people also buy when they buy a washer in the US? They buy a dryer. So the price of dryers went up as well, even though there was no tariff on those. So in the end all that happened was Americans wound up spending more for washers and dryers. Why would a country want to do that to its own people?
You’re screwed no matter what you do. As right wing as Australia has become, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but good job Australia.
There are other ways to retaliate. China doesn’t mess around. They outright banned certain companies from operating there and denied sales of certain needed elements to the US.
A tariff is a tax on the country imposing the tariff. The only way it actually hurts the country that the tariff is placed against, is if people stop buying the foreign products. But in the case of a tax on steel or aluminum, that would require people to avoid all products made with foreign steel/aluminum. This is nearly impossible. So it only hurts Australians in this case.
Plus that’s not how capitalism works. A real example from Trump’s first term was a tariff imposed on washing machines. The tariff made foreign washing machines more expensive than domestic ones. So far, so good. What did American companies do? Raised the price of domestic washing machines to match that of foreign ones in a greedy grab for profits. This meant the incentive to buy American washing machines was nullified. You know what people also buy when they buy a washer in the US? They buy a dryer. So the price of dryers went up as well, even though there was no tariff on those. So in the end all that happened was Americans wound up spending more for washers and dryers. Why would a country want to do that to its own people?
You’re screwed no matter what you do. As right wing as Australia has become, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but good job Australia.
There are other ways to retaliate. China doesn’t mess around. They outright banned certain companies from operating there and denied sales of certain needed elements to the US.