Australian PM labels U.S. tariffs as "not the act of a friend"

Sydney [Australia], April 3: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has condemned the new U.S. tariffs on imports from the nation as "unwarranted" and "not the act of a friend."
Albanese on Thursday morning said that U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of a 10-percent tariff on all imports from Australia did not come as a "surprise" to the government but said they have "no basis in logic."
"The administration's tariffs have no basis in logic and they go against the basis of our two nations' partnership," Albanese told reporters in Melbourne, shortly after Trump revealed the sweeping new tariffs in Washington on Wednesday local time.
"This is not the act of a friend," Albanese said.
He confirmed that Australia would not impose reciprocal tariffs on the United States, instead threatening to use "dispute resolution mechanisms" contained in the free trade agreement between the nations.
"The Australian people have every right to view this action by the Trump administration as undermining our free and fair trading relationship and counter to the shared values that have always been at the heart of our two nations' longstanding friendship. This will have consequences for how Australians see this relationship," he said.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Wednesday that Albanese's government was preparing to take the United States to the World Trade Organization to accuse it of breaching the free trade agreement.
Announcing the new tariffs, Trump singled out Australia's ban on importing fresh beef from the United States as a non-tariff trade barrier.
Importing fresh beef from the United States has been prohibited under Australia's biosecurity laws since 2003.
According to United Nations COMTRADE data, beef was Australia's most valuable export to the United States in 2024 at 4.03 billion U.S. dollars.
Source: Xinhua