Trump adviser: ‘Australia killing the US aluminium market’

News.com.au - 12/02
Donald Trump’s top trade adviser Peter Navarro had unleashed on Australia for “killing the aluminium market”, in a blow to hopes that the US President will grant Anthony Albanese’s plea for a tariff carve out.

Donald Trump’s top trade adviser Peter Navarro had unleashed on Australia for “killing the aluminium market”, in a blow to hopes that the US President will grant Anthony Albanese’s plea for a tariff carve out.

The Prime Minister’s hopes of securing an exemption from Mr Trump’s new tariffs have been rocked by the trade hawk’s public sprays this morning on Fox News and CNN.

“Australia is crushing, just crushing — with the help of China — our aluminium sector,” Mr Trump’s senior counsellor for trade and manufacturing told Fox News.

“The President says no more country exemptions, no more product exclusions. We’re going to run into a beautiful golden age.”

Mr Navarro has fought for years to convince the US to impose tariffs.

Peter Navarro with President Donald Trump. Picture: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP

When then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull negotiated an exemption for Australian exports to the US in 2018, Mr Navarro lobbied internally to reimpose tariffs on Australia a year later.

At the time it is said that Scott Morrison made some verbal guarantees on aluminium exports but that these were subsequently not enforced by US President Joe Biden, leading to the situation today.

The pro-tariff adviser reportedly urged the President to hit Australia in response to a surge of Aus...
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