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CSIS expert Charles Edel talks Trump tariffs on ABC Insiders

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An international relations expert has some blunt advice for Australian policymakers on how to avoid potentially damaging Trump tariffs.

Australian policymakers need to make a direct overture to US President-elect Donald Trump to avoid punitive tariffs on the world’s largest economy, a leading expert on international relations has warned.

Charles Edel, president of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, told ABC Insiders on Sunday that it was unclear whether Australia would be able to avoid tariffs during a second Trump administration, but that it was in a better position than other Asia-Pacific countries, such as China.

He said: “Australia has a trade deficit with the United States.

“Only Donald Trump knows why, and it’s very important to him.

“But… Donald Trump must hear the case directly from Australia.

“That’s why relationships are so important.

“The fact that Australia has a trade deficit with the United States should be a good example of their argument, but they have to provide facts and figures directly to Trump himself to prove it.”

CSIS expert Charles Edel discusses Trump tariffs on ABC Insiders

CSIS researcher Charles Edel told ABC Insiders on Sunday that Australian diplomats and politicians need to appeal directly to President Donald Trump to maintain AUKUS and avoid punitive tariffs. Image source: ABC

CSIS expert Charles Edel discusses Trump tariffs on ABC Insiders

President Trump has threatened to impose a 20% across-the-board tariff on goods imported into the US. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP

Tariffs are taxes on imported goods and if the US imposes tariffs on Australian goods it would weaken Australia’s export-reliant economy and could lead to job losses at home.

Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board tariffs of 20 percent on all imports, with higher rates possible for competitors such as China.

“Trump calls him the ‘tariff man,'” Edel said.

“He loves tariffs. It’s his tool for just about everything.”

Trump believes the tariffs will increase U.S domestic manufacturing capabilities.

Edel also warned that previous derogatory comments about President Trump by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and current ambassador to the United States Kevin Rudd “may” affect their future interactions with the erratic leader.

“It depends on how Trump reacts, and it’s hard to predict how he’s going to react in the middle of the night,” he said.

CSIS expert Charles Edel discusses Trump tariffs on ABC Insiders

But Edel argues that what people say about Trump in the past is often less important than what people say about him now and in the future, noting that Trump’s vice president, JD Vance, has previously called him a “moral disaster”.

“I think, ‘What have you done for me today?’ That’s how Donald Trump sees the world,” Edel said.

Eder also said it was unclear how a second Trump administration would assess the AUKUS agreement between the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.

“If we’re being honest, I don’t think we know,” he said.

“He (President Trump) will be the deciding factor in this issue. It depends on how Australia can make its case against Trump.”

Under the AUKUS agreement, Australia will purchase conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines, with the Australian government spending up to $368 billion over the next 30 years to purchase these submarines.

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