CHRIS BATH, HOST: For 36 minutes, the US tariffs on Australian imports of steel and aluminium have officially been going. The Prime Minister has had a bit to say about it today and he joins me now. Prime Minister, thanks for your time.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, Chris. Great to be with you.
BATH: Now, you put some propositions to the US in a bid to get us a tariff exemption. You were asked this morning at a media conference about what Australia could offer in return for perhaps getting exemptions at a later time. Here’s a grab from that media conference.
PRIME MINISTER (from earlier press conference): We have put forward a range of propositions to the United States. We put those forward in good faith. There have been discussions about that. Those discussions are continuing. Diplomacy is best done in that way.
BATH: Prime Minister, what exactly were those propositions that you put to the US?
PRIME MINISTER: As I said at the press conference today, diplomacy is best done just that way - diplomacy, not through the media. So we'll continue to put forward our case arguing that Australia should be exempted, arguing that Australia provides substantial benefits for the United States. That the economic relationship that we have is to the benefit of both of our nations, and that is why this decision is not justified and that's why Australia should be given a special exemption.
BATH. So, these tariffs are going ahead. What's going to be our approach to the administration now? Obviously, what we've done so far hasn't worked. Will we change tack?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we'll continue to engage constructively with the United States, but obviously it has an impact if the United States makes a decision like this, that is not, in our view, consistent with the spirit of the friendship that we have as nations and fundamentally at odds with the benefits that our economic partnership has delivered over many decades. Australia has no tariffs on goods from the United States. We're not about to impose those because that would lead to higher prices here in Australia. But this decision by the United States will just lead to higher prices in the United States. It is not in their interest either.
BATH: Would you consider approaching the administration in concert, a bloc, if you like, with other great trading partners of Australia, like Japan, South Korea, Indonesia or India, for example?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they have all had this tariff imposed and what tariffs will do, and if there are impediments to trade, it leads to higher prices, it leads to slower economic growth globally and has an impact on people's living standards. That is why we believe this is very much counterproductive. Now, the US administration under Donald Trump has a different position, but we'll continue to put forward our position that we in particular should be exempted from this. We regard this as a very bad decision for the United States as well as for Australia.
BATH: If all those nations, though, Prime Minister, have had tariffs imposed, why not go as a delegation, as a group of nations?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think the whole world, in terms of the industrialised world, are doing just that, are putting forward their case to the United States. But we will put forward as a sovereign nation our own case when it comes to Australia's position with the United States. President Trump has said that he's concerned that a range of countries which have a trade surplus with the United States get an advantage from that. Now, the United States has had a trade surplus with Australia, that is, there are more goods sold into Australia than Australia sells to the United States by a margin of about two to one, essentially since the Truman presidency all those decades ago. Therefore, the argument that says, ‘oh, well, we're imposing this because it's in the interest of the United States’ simply doesn't carry weight here. A pragmatic analysis says that free trade between our two countries has benefited the United States. And when you have this uniform price, of course, increase, which will occur if you have a 25 per cent tariff across the board, then you don't change the comparative advantage between countries. So it's not Australia being disadvantaged compared with other steel or aluminium producers, like Canada is a major producer of aluminium that might even get a higher tariff. So, it doesn't change that makeup or the competitive advantage of any nation. What it does do is increase prices for the United States buyers of those products.
BATH: Prime Minister, we've seen tumult on the share markets around the world. People here are worried about their superannuation. How do you reassure Australians about the impact the Trump administration is having on the world economy?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it is having an impact on the global economy, which is why we support free and fair trade, which is why we support markets, unless there are areas of market value, there's a role for government intervention. But overwhelmingly, free and fair trade benefits the global economy and lifts people up, whether they be in industrialised countries or whether they be in developing nations. We continue to put our case. President Trump was elected last year. That is something that we have to deal with. The policies that they put in place will, as the world's largest economy, will have an impact on the global economy. What we need to do is to make sure that we continue to make our economy more resilient, able to withstand, look for other markets as well, which is what we have done in trade across the board. We have engaged with ASEAN, in particular, the Southeast Asian nations, to produce our Southeast Asia Economic Strategy by 2040. We've restored our trade relationship with China. We have engaged with a free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates that opens up the whole Middle East markets. We have made sure as well that we've been prepared to intervene, to back Australian steel there in Whyalla with the intervention that my Government and Peter Malinauskas’ Government have done in South Australia.
BATH: But Prime Minister, if markets are falling around the world, is having faith in free and fair trade going to be enough to shore up people's superannuation savings?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, which is why we've been prepared to intervene in areas like Whyalla Steel. We think, though, that shutting up shop and not trading as a nation would damage Australia more. And that's why we are a trading nation. One in four of Australian jobs depend upon trade, which is why we back it, which is why we not only want to have our resources, for example, exported, but more and more our whole Future Made in Australia agenda is about value adding, is about making jobs here, is about making more things here and making our economy more resilient.
BATH: Prime Minister, the Opposition Leader today, Peter Dutton, says if he wins the federal election, he'll get a deal done with the Trump administration. What can he achieve that you haven't been able to do?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, whenever Peter Dutton gets the chance to back Australia, he always looks at other options. Now, on this case, he should be backing Australia rather than backing the decision of the Trump administration. You know, Peter Dutton presided over, was a senior minister, where of course we had more than $20 billion, a much larger trade problem that we had with China. We fixed it. We fixed it. Peter Dutton believes that he could have succeeded on steel tariffs where no other leader and no other nation did. It's a bit like his nuclear plan. It's one more bit of evidence that Peter Dutton lives in some sort of fantasy land where he just talks Australia down. It's about time that he, when given an option, backed Australia rather than talked Australia down.
BATH: So, Prime Minister, just to be clear, there's going to be no retaliation from Australia following the imposition of these tariffs. We're just going to continue to put propositions, whatever they are, to the administration?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what there won't be is reciprocal tariffs because that pushes up prices for Australian consumers. That would be counterproductive.
BATH: Prime Minister, thank you very much for your time. Just one final question. How do you feel about how the Bunnies are going to go this season?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, if we could stop getting injuries, and Jack Wighton’s suspension. Now, I looked at the players list for this Saturday versus the Dragons before. I put my tips in just this morning and didn't even recognise a couple of the names. So let's hope we overcome what's been a very difficult year and a half, really, with injuries. But I think when we get our full team back on the field, with Latrell and Cameron Murray and Alex Johnston and young Tyrone Munro back, then we've got a pretty formidable side.
BATH: One thing that's just occurred to me, Prime Minister, are you going to have another phone call with President Trump?
PRIME MINISTER: Certainly we've put in that request. We've had two discussions already about these issues, and we're continuing to engage with all of our personnel at our disposal, both in the United States and here.
BATH: Alright, Prime Minister, thanks for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Chris.