Wong looks for economic Trump card with trade in focus
Australia and the US maintain a strong economic relationship, Foreign Minister Penny Wong says, as Donald Trump retakes office as President and spikes concerns about trade tariffs.
Wong attended Trump’s inauguration in Washington DC on Tuesday (AEDT) and said it was “such a privilege and honour to be the first Australian foreign minister to be invited and to attend an inauguration”.
There was a trade surplus in the US’s favour of about two to one, Wong said, adding she’d raise the economic relationship during meetings.
“Of those exports from Australia that come here, about half of them go into the US production so it’s an economic relationship which is of great benefit to the United States,” she said on Tuesday.
“Certainly those stats will be something I’ll keep saying to those I meet when it comes to the very positive trade relationship we have between our two countries.”
Australia’s former ambassador to the US, Joe Hockey, said he was less worried about tariffs – which Australia managed to get an exemption to during Trump’s last presidency – than other changes.
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If Trump cut income or company taxes then Australia could become uncompetitive if it didn’t follow, he said.
“If they get rid of regulation … then it’s very hard to do business in Australia rather than in America,” he told Nine’s Today show from Washington.
“What you’re going to see is that the second round impact of decisions that Trump makes in America are going to have a big impact on Australia and they’re going to force policy change in Australia.”
Social changes in America would also flow through to Australia, Hockey added, saying Trump “has no handbrake” because he wasn’t worried about what the media said or a re-election bid.
“He’s going to be off the leash and it’s all going to unfold pretty quickly,” he said.
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But La Trobe University professor Dennis Altman said Australia’s fragile relationship with China and Pacific nations could be at risk under Trump’s second presidential term.
Trump could use the trilateral AUKUS partnership to threaten Australia’s recently rekindled links with its largest two-way trading partner, Altman said.
“The whole global picture is uncertain,” he said.
The deal between Australia, the US and the UK is part of a $368 billion plan to deliver nuclear-powered submarines for Australian service.
While it has received bipartisan support in America, it is unclear how those within Trump’s administration will act.
“They might use the AUKUS agreement to push Australia into a position we would find very awkward,” Altman said, pointing to the Albanese government’s work to re-establish the relationship with Beijing.
“But that’s imperilled now and it’s not helped by some of the people in the opposition who are echoing the war rhetoric of Trump’s advisers.”
Australia’s ties with its Pacific neighbours could also be jeopardised by Trump’s second term as he will pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on climate change, Altman said.
“It will give ammunition to the people on the right in both the Liberal and National parties who want to ditch a commitment to lower emissions,” he said.
“That will have huge implications for our relations with Pacific Island countries for whom this is an existential issue.”
The US also holds significant influence over global culture wars and Trump’s term could embolden Australia’s wealthy, right-wing figures.
“They are going to use the Trump presidency to push back against what they regard as woke policies on gender, sexuality and multiculturalism,” Altman said.
