Trump's Trade Tariffs Will Only `Impoverish,' Australia Says

(Bloomberg) -- Trade tariffs such as those U.S. President Donald Trump plans to impose on steel and aluminum imports will only end up reducing prosperity, according to Australian Trade Minister Steve Ciobo.

“Any time you increase tariffs or put in place barriers, all you do is further impoverish,” Ciobo said in an interview on Sky News on Sunday. “There is no prosperity at all from putting up trade barriers or higher taxes on traded goods.”

Australia is seeking an exemption from the tariffs, and is still unclear on whether one will be given, Ciobo said. Trump has dared other countries to retaliate to the tariffs, with the European Union and other allies such as Canada warning that they will.

“We don't want to get caught up in the stampeding elephants of the U.S, China and Europe in an escalating trade war,” said Innes Willox, the chief executive officer of the Australian Industry Group. “We could quite easily be really squeezed by this. Because we are such a huge export nation, we stand to be among the biggest losers of a global trade war, so we have to be the ones trying to pull the elephants together to try to get some sense here.”

Threats by the EU to target imports of Harley-Davidson Inc. motorbikes, Levi Strauss & Co. jeans and bourbon whiskey from the U.S. heightened the prospects of a global free-for-all. The World Trade Organization says the potential of escalating tensions “is real” and the International Monetary Fund also warned the restrictions would likely damage the U.S. and global economy.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Hobbs in Sydney at ahobbs4@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stanley James at sjames8@bloomberg.net, John McCluskey

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