PM says Trump’s tariffs ‘unjustified’; court rejects appeal in landmark Yunupingu case; and 100 days with an artificial heart
Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP
Anthony Albanese has condemned Donald Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium as “entirely unjustified” and “not a friendly act”, after the Labor government failed to receive the exemption the US president had dangled in a call last month.
The Australian prime minister said his government would continue pushing for an exemption to the 25% tariffs, calling the trade barriers favoured by Trump “a form of economic self-harm”, in his strongest criticism of the American president since he returned to office.
“This is against the spirit of our two nations’ enduring friendship and fundamentally at odds with the benefit of our economic partnership that has delivered over more than 70 years,” Albanese said in Sydney on Wednesday.
The Trump administration announced it had rejected Australia’s plea for an exemption from US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, due to come into effect on Wednesday.
Read more about the tariffs – and whether Australia should be worried – in our explainer here.
Top news
*This is an excerpt from today's Afternoon Update newsletter. Sign up here to get the full version delivered to your inbox every weekday.