Australia’s leaders face a day of reckoning on the campaign trail as US President Donald Trump unleashes another wave of tariffs.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will be expected to respond emphatically when Mr Trump unveils his “Liberation Day” tariffs first thing Thursday morning.
But discussions on trade measures are pocked with pitfalls for both leaders.
“It’s a zero-sum game,” Australian National University politics lecturer Jill Sheppard told AAP.
“Anytime the major parties talk about this, they risk getting other people offside.”
Mr Dutton, for example, could lean on the Liberal Party’s connections and broad political alignment with the Republicans to claim he could get on the phone with the president.
“(However) any time Dutton talks about his relationship with Trump, it frames the Liberals as worryingly close to Trump,” Dr Sheppard said.
On the other hand, Labor could be blamed for failing to prevent the president’s first round of tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports.
The fact no country has scored a tariff exemption could play into the government’s favour, Dr Sheppard added.
With Australians growing increasingly concerned about Mr Trump’s presidency, the topic has become unavoidable for political leaders ahead of the May 3 election.
The prime minister insists negotiations with the US administration are ongoing, but his language has firmed up in recent days.
Any options that could undermine biosecurity or the pharmaceutical subsidies scheme were “off the table”, he said, and on Wednesday he did not rule out taking action against the US at the World Trade Organisation.
“We’re prepared for all possibilities going forward,” Mr Albanese told reporters in Tasmania.
While it is unclear if the issue will shift votes it will almost certainly impact the Australian stock market, giving the coalition an opening to shift focus towards its strengths like economic management and inflation, Dr Sheppard said.
Mr Dutton has maintained he is a stronger leader than the prime minister and would be better placed to advocate for Australia’s national interest.
“I don’t care whether it’s President Trump or any other world leader, my job is to stand up for Australians, and I have the strength and the experience to be able to do that,” he told.
The opposition leader is expected to campaign in WA on Thursday while Mr Albanese will start his day in Melbourne.
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