00:00Yeah, I was here at the White House in the private office of Donald Trump's press secretary
00:08that Australia's hopes of a last minute reprieve from the sweeping 25% tariffs on all aluminium
00:15and steel imports into the United States were publicly extinguished.
00:20Caroline Levitt said yes, Donald Trump had given great consideration to Australia's request
00:26for an exemption, but he considered it and considered against it.
00:31She says that it's all about America first steel, and that if Australian manufacturers
00:36want to be exempt from tariffs, they should move their production to the United States.
00:42I then subsequently caught up with Donald Trump's trade advisor, Peter Navarro.
00:47He is seen as one of the architects behind Donald Trump's pro tariff economic policy.
00:53He accused Australia of abusing the exemptions that we received in the first Trump term.
01:00He says Australia, along with some other friendly countries, effectively bit the hand that fed
01:06them in the way they acted with that exemption.
01:09And this was how he explained the logic behind these sweeping tariffs.
01:15So what the lesson from the first Trump tariffs has been is that exemptions to anybody are
01:25counterproductive.
01:26They don't work for the American people.
01:30And the same thing is true of product exclusions.
01:35There is a sliver of hope for the Australian government, though.
01:38Peter Navarro went on to say that yes, the current policy is no exclusions, no exemptions,
01:44but that's just until the president might change his mind.
01:48One country that has experienced the whiplash of Donald Trump's changing mind when it comes
01:53to tariffs is the United States' northern neighbour, Canada.
01:56Now, Donald Trump really, since he took back office in January, has consistently threatened
02:02sweeping broad tariffs on Canada.
02:06He has pushed deadlines back repeatedly, but Canada will be hit with this 25% tariff on
02:12aluminium and steel.
02:14We then saw the Ontario premier.
02:16This is the biggest Canadian province, got the biggest population.
02:21He was threatening to put a 25% tariff on energy exports to the United States.
02:26It exports to three American states.
02:28Donald Trump then said, well, if you're going to do that, I'm going to hit you with a 50%
02:32tariff on aluminium and steel.
02:35Now we've seen the Ontario premier back away from that threat, and Donald Trump likewise
02:40has moved away from that promise.
02:42Canada will still receive the same 25% tariff on aluminium and steel that Australia is receiving,
02:47but they won't receive double.
02:49But yes, despite the threat that America may now be heading towards recession, as some
02:55economists are starting to forecast, Donald Trump still says all systems go on this trade
03:01war.
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