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‘Be alert, not alarmed’ about Trump tariffs, lawyers say
Donald Trump’s apparent indecision about whether to exempt Australia from trade prevents certainty in a much-needed space, according to legal practitioners.
Jerome Doraisamy
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order placing a tariff of 25 per cent on imports of steel and aluminium to the United States from mid-March and noted there would be “no exceptions and no exemptions” from such a tax.
However, following a call with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese – whom Trump labelled a “very fine man” – the returned US president said he’d give “great consideration” to a possible exemption for Australia.
“We have a surplus with Australia. One of the few. And the reason is they buy a lot of airplanes,” Trump told reporters afterwards.
Albanese said: “We agreed on wording to say publicly, which is that the US President agreed that an exemption was under consideration in the interests of both of our countries.”
Following this, however, senior counsel to the president Peter Navarro unleashed on Australia while speaking on CNN, accusing the nation of “just killing our aluminium market”.
Referencing our exports to the US, Navarro said: “What they do is they just flood our markets.”
As of the time of filing this story, it is not clear whether Albanese, and Australia, will get an exemption to the tariffs that will commence in a month’s time.
In conversation with Lawyers Weekly, Jacqui Barrett – who heads up Hall & Wilcox’s US practice – said that the announced tariffs are “creating significant uncertainty in global markets”.
“At this early stage, it is difficult to assess the likely impact, as we anticipate there will be ongoing negotiation and changes to the position in the coming months. However, assuming that certain of the proposed US tariffs will be implemented, Australia is likely to experience both direct and indirect impacts,” she said.
Rigby Cooke Lawyers partner Andrew Hudson echoed this, noting that both lawyers and clients are keen for regulatory and political certainty.
However, he reflected, “what is currently happening in the US with the new Trump administration (and overseas retaliatory action) is denying certainty both in US and global markets”.
It seems, Hudson continued, “that the concepts of multilateral trade liberalisation and rules-based international trade have been put to one side as the US pursues what is perceived to be in its interests on an ‘America first’ basis”.
“While many of the initiatives being announced in the US may prove only to be [a] means to force negotiations with trading partners for outcomes which the US wants, those initiatives cannot be ignored,” he said.
“It places a premium on Australian lawyers to watch and understand what is happening and to have solid networks here and overseas in the trade space (especially in the US) who can provide immediate and practical guidance on how and when new US measures may actually take effect.”
Ultimately, he suggested, “be alert, but not alarmed!”
For legal counsel, including in-house and external advisers, Barrett advised, “it would be prudent to have clients (particularly those seeking to export goods and services into the US and other countries) to revisit supply chain arrangements and the terms of existing international agreements and consider how they might need to be adapted to meet the new trading environment”.
“Legal advisers should also have regard to how the flow of impacts on global trade could adversely impact their clients’ risk profile/exposure and what risk mitigation options might be available,” she said.
“For example, it is not yet clear how much Australian businesses will directly feel the impacts of the aluminium and steel tariffs, but the indirect global impacts could certainly prove significant.”
Barrett continued: “Tariffs imposed on other key trading partners such as China, along with possible retaliatory measures, could lead to economic uncertainty and impacts on demand that flow on to Australian businesses.”
From a transactional perspective, she opined, the proposed tariffs “could have the effect of keeping interest rates higher for longer, which may have a stifling effect on M&A activity in the Australian market”.
Overall, Barrett surmised, the position at the moment is “very unclear”, and so it will be important for legal advisers to continue to monitor the situation and be ready to respond promptly to advise their clients.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. In June 2024, he also assumed the editorship of HR Leader. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
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