Don’t feel anymore. Australia wishes to diversify its commercial associations with other countries and, therefore, reduce its dependency from the United States, said Australian Minister of Commerce Don Farrell, criticizing the duties of US customs “unjustified.”
“I hope that the countries that create in free trade and just agree to extend free trade agreements worldwide, so that, regardless of what Americans choose to do, we have a greater diversity of commercial partners,” said Don Farrell in Sky News Channel.
The United States has imposed basic customs tariffs of 10% in all imports of Australia at the beginning of the year, and more recently the customs tariffs of 50% in steel and aluminum, of which Australia is an important producer.
Don Farrell said he had protested these surcharges last week of his American counterpart Jamieson Greer.
Trade between the two countries is estimated at $ 100 billion Australian dollars (almost 57 billion euros) per year, the commercial balance is more inclined in favor of Washington, according to Australian minister.
Uncertainties and distrust
The prime minister on the left, Anthony Albanese, had indicated after his renewal in early May that he had a “warm” conversation with Donald Trump. But in part he won the legislative elections due to the distrust of the Australian voters with respect to the US president.
In addition to its commercial association with the United States, Australia is beginning to doubt the “Aukus” military pact that sealed in 2021 with Washington and London, assumes that it must stop China’s influence on the Pacific.
Canberra even approached the European Union in May to establish a new Together Defense Association, at a time when Europe seeks to shape a response linked to war in Ukraine and other world crises.
Don Farrell was also in France last week, as part of the meeting of the OECD Ministerial Council. He indicated before his trip that the conclusion of a free trade agreement with the EU is “a priority”, but that this agreement should “provide significant results in terms of market access, even for Australian agriculture.”
Source: BFM TV
