Europe to take evasive action as Trump tariffs hit, braces for second wave.
Germans say: “If they want war, they will get war.
Welcome to Talking Business, a podcast produced in Melbourne Australia. The podcast is available on the Acast site, my own website, the Apple podcast store or wherever you go to get your podcasts. Or you can get it at the Business Acumen website at www.businessacumen.biz
For the most exclusive access to leading economists and business leaders from around the world, subscribe to Talking Business from my website leongettler.com.
I am Leon Gettler. My job is tor review and monitor the week’s news in business finance and economics. I bring it all to you every week.
This is episode number 24 in our series for 2025 and today’s date is Friday July 25.
First, I’ll be talking to D J Greer, an entrepreneurial coach. We’ll look at how he creates high performing and high growth start-ups and mid-market businesses, examining the challenges they face. He also helps entrepreneurs challenged with alcoholism or addiction, drawing from his own experience with drink.
And I’ll be talking to RMIT economist Jonathon Boymal about trends in the Australian property market.
But first, let’s talk to David J Greer.
So what’s happening in the news?
The European Union thought it was on the verge of a deal with the U.S. to keep tariffs in check. Now it is readying a counterattack. U.S. officials told the EU’s trade chief this past week that they expect President Trump to demand further concessions from the bloc to get an agreement, including a baseline tariff on most European goods that could be in the range of 15% or higher. That was an unwelcome surprise for the EU, which had been working toward an agreement that would have kept baseline tariffs at 10%, already a tough concession for some of its 27 countries. The shift prompted Germany, Europe’s biggest economy and its largest exporter, which had previously been more dovish on U.S. retaliation, to swing closer to France’s more confrontational position, according to people close to the discussions. Now, EU member states are pressing the bloc’s executive body to prepare new and potent measures to hit back against U.S. companies, beyond retaliatory tariffs on goods, if a deal can’t be reached the August 1 deadline set by Trump. “All options are on the table,” a German official said Friday. The official said there was still time to negotiate a deal but added, “If they want war, they will get war.” What sort of war? On Friday, Berlin signaled it could support the EU using its so-called anticoercion instrument, a legal tool that lets the bloc hit back at economic bullying with a range of restrictions on trade and investment. It has never been used before. EU officials view the tool as the bloc’s most powerful trade weapon, and a last resort. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who leads the EU’s executive arm, said earlier this month that the instrument was created for emergencies “and we are not there yet.” That assessment could change. The commission is already preparing measures that could be introduced using the anticoercion instrument, people briefed on the matter said. Member states now say they want the tool to be ready. The push to increase potential countermeasures marks a turning point for the EU after months of negotiations to salvage the world’s biggest trading relationship. More than $5 billion of goods and services moves between the two economies every day, according to EU data. The European Commission, which is in charge of the bloc’s trade policy, said Sunday that it wants a negotiated, mutually beneficial agreement and remains deeply engaged in negotiations. If no satisfactory outcome is found, all options remain on the table, a spokesman said. On Sunday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick expressed optimism about reaching an agreement with the EU. “I am confident we’ll get a deal done,” Lutnick said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “And it will be great for America, because the president has the back of America.” The EU suspects that’s BS. The bloc has little to show for his efforts. Earlier this month Trump threatened 30% tariffs on imports of most goods from the EU, up from the 20% the president first floated in April. Even German officials, who have pressed for a quick deal, no longer see an agreement with the U.S. as the most likely outcome. people familiar with the matter said. In the months since Trump took office, EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič has flown to Washington half a dozen times. He has had multiple calls and texts with U.S. trade officials. And he has said Europe was willing to lower tariffs and buy tens of billions of dollars of U.S. energy products and advanced semiconductors.
Donald Trump’s lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch threatens to rupture the bond that has held the US Right together for the last decade. Trump is suing Murdoch after The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by Murdoch, published an embarrassing letter allegedly from Trump in the 50th birthday scrapbook for Jeffrey Epstein, the paedophile who would later die by suicide in jail. The typed letter reportedly included a drawing made with a “heavy marker” of a naked woman over which Trump had allegedly signed his name over pubic hair, with a message wishing that “every day be another wonderful secret”. Trump, who categorically denies it was his drawing or words, had threatened Murdoch that he would “sue his ass off and that of his third rate newspaper”. As if anyone would be able to get Murdoch’s ass. But then Murdoch chose to publish. The newspaper says it will defend its reporting in court. And here’s the thing: the lawsuit looks likely to maintain public attention on Trump’s friendship with Epstein which Trump claims ended years before Epstein was convicted on a prostitution solicitation charge in 2008. That’s not a good look for the US president. The 94-year-old Murdoch is weighing up whether Trump is losing his grip on the Maga movement over the Epstein saga. The Maga people are rebelling against Trump. Murdoch, whose mother lived to 103, thinks he is going to live forever and that he will outlast 79-year-old Trump. Watch this space!
Healthscope, Australia’s second largest hospital operator, which collapsed into administration in May with $1.6 billion in debt, has got the ball rolling on becoming a not-for-profit company. It’s working on a proposal to put in front of its 30-plus lenders. As part of this, it’s exploring applying to the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) to become a registered organisation, aided by receivers McGrathNicol. That would be one of several steps it needs to take to become a non-profit entity. Healthscope is gung-ho on the not-for-profit plan for several reasons. First, it avoids major disruption by keeping the hospital group intact in the face of a possible break-up as bidders jostle for individual hospitals. Larger operators also have better leverage when negotiating with health insurers, trade unions and landlords. Tax is also a key consideration. Not-for-profits are exempt from payroll tax. With about 19,000 staff on its books, this would save Healthscope around $80 million to $100 million annually. Improved earnings mean it can likely raise additional external debt, allowing it to pay out existing lenders and hedge funds. For government, the argument goes that if Healthscope were sold to a not-for-profit rival like St Vincents, Calvary Health Care or St John of God Health Care, the state would forgo that revenue stream. Finally, as a not-for-profit, Healthscope can mount a pitch to ideologically driven surgeons that they can operate at a for-purpose organisation that doesn’t impose religious restrictions on certain procedures like abortions. Surgeons are a key revenue source, and the sector is in a war for talent. The fate of Healthscope’s not-for-profit plan will ultimately be decided by its lenders, chief among them London’s Plus Capital and Los Angeles-based Canyon Partners. Its pitch is that Healthscope can only be sold once, and allowing management to run it as a group free from crushing debt and rent woes will benefit the shareholders.
Chinese brands will make up almost half of new vehicles sold in Australia within a decade in the most substantial shift in the market since Japanese manufacturers toppled Holden as the country’s most popular cars. By 2035, 43% of cars imported into the country will come from China, where manufacturers are increasingly at the forefront of a shift towards electric vehicles. Chinese-manufactured cars make up just 17% of sales now, according to the Centre for International Economics, a research firm engaged by automotive dealers to forecast future demand. Ten years ago, according to the analysis, almost no cars were imported from China; Japan, with 29%, had the biggest share of sales in Australia. “We saw the rise of Japan in Australia. We saw the rise of Korea as an automotive manufacturing power. But I think what’s different with China is the scale and the absolute speed with which they are bringing products to market,” said James Voortman, the chief executive of the Australian Automotive Dealer Association, which represents car yards, said. “There is a mentality there that if you can succeed in Australia, you’re setting yourself up for success in the rest of the world. If we see brand departures from Australia, like we saw with Holden some time ago, that can only be bad.You won’t have a place to service your car. You won’t have a brand to honour your recall obligations. Given that the motor vehicle is generally either the largest or second-largest purchase that a consumer makes, that is a bit concerning.” Led by the largest manufacturers like BYD, Geely and Chery, Chinese carmakers are aggressively expanding, not only in Australia but in Europe and the United States. BYD, which has overtaken Tesla as the best-selling electric vehicle manufacturer in Australia, recorded a 368% increase in sales in June compared to the same period last year, according to MA Moelis. Chery and GWM, other established brands, also grew quickly. At least 23 Chinese brands are already for sale in Australia or have confirmed launch plans, while another five are likely to arrive soon, according to the dealers’ association. Those include Avatr, an SUV manufacturer part-owned by commodities giant CATL, and Foton Motor, which specialises in trucks and sports utility vehicles.
New ANZ chief executive Nuno Matos has admonished employees in a series of town hall meetings held at the bank over the past month, saying he was receiving a high volume of complaints about service, and flagging a cultural overhaul as he stamps his authority over the major lender. Matos spoke about a “permanent transformation” that would affect every employee as the former HSBC executive, who took the top job in May, reworked its leadership team. “The culture has to pivot, has to evolve from a culture that is respectful and is friendly, collaborative, and on top of that, a culture that is clear,” Matos said. “People know what to do and what not to do. That is decisive,” he told the meeting in Sydney, adding how he was hearing from up to five customers every day. We will be in permanent transformation in today’s business environment, change is the name of the game … There is not a single person in this company that cannot transform the company a little bit.” Matos arrived at ANZ after a tumultuous period for the bank, which remains under investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for allegedly manipulating the market when it sold $1.4 billion in government bonds in 2023. It has been excluded from lucrative bond sales by the Australian Office of Financial Management since. When Matos joined HSBC in 2015, he was tasked with cleaning up a considerable scandal after American prosecutors found at least $US881 million in drug trafficking money was laundered through HSBC’s accounts. A Senate inquiry in the US also condemned the bank for moving funds for those linked to al-Qaeda and Hezbollah, and helping Iran, Sudan and North Korea evade sanctions.
Nine Entertainment’s largest shareholder, billionaire media and property magnate Bruce Gordon, is quietly eyeing off ways to seize control of the company after it finalises the sale of its stake in real estate business Domain. Mr Gordon owns 19.98% of Nine through its private investment firm, Birketu, and swaps that he intends to convert to equity by November that will take his shareholding to 25.22%. Gordon is mulling whether to then make a full takeover bid for Nine or, more likely, use the creep provisions to increase his stake by 3% every six months, once the Domain sale has been completed and Nine’s valuation drops. Mr Gordon is a titan in a shrinking field of billionaires who still like free-to-air TV. He already owns WIN, the world’s largest privately owned regional television network and infrastructure-style property company, but has long harboured ambitions to own Nine. The 96-year-old businessman insists age has not wearied his desire to control Nine and put himself in the same sphere – on the domestic media front at least – as rival media owners Kerry Stokes, Nine’s former owner, the late Kerry Packer or even Rupert Murdoch who is 94.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has denied the lack of a first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump is hurting Australian interests, arguing no other country had secured better trade arrangements and Australia “gives and deserves respect”. He also says his five-day, six-night visit to China Albanese has produced concrete outcomes and has denied that he is being too deferential towards Beijing at a time when geopolitical tensions are ratcheting up. “I support Australia’s national interest and I engage with the world as it is, rather than as some people would like it to be,” he said. “Australia’s national interest is served by having engagement with China.” Albanese’s visit to China was the longest by an Australian prime minister in living memory and he was feted in Beijing, spending almost five hours with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang. While Albanese has now met Xi four times, he may not hold talks with Trump until September, when international summit season kicks off, after the US president cancelled a planned meeting last month on the sidelines of the G7 in Canada. Some rare public disagreements between Canberra and Washington have also emerged with the Trump administration pushing Australia and another close ally Japan to lift defence spending and pre-commit forces to defending Taiwan. A Pentagon review has cast doubt on the plan to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia under AUKUS. Albanese and senior ministers have also criticised Trump’s imposition of tariffs on Australian exports to the US as “not the act of a friend”. Ministers also drew comparisons with Trump’s small government agenda to tar former opposition leader Peter Dutton as Trump-lite during the election campaign. The opposition has accused Albanese of letting the bipartisan relationship with the US drift by not building a bond with Trump, who values personal connections with leaders. But the PM denies Australia is on the nose with Trump and his team, contrasting his approach to countries that have engaged more directly with the US. “No country has got a better arrangement at this point in time on tariffs than Australia,” Albanese said. “I support free and fair trade. We do not support tariffs. But no country has received a better outcome. The announcements that have been made – Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam – have all been higher than Australia’s tariffs and the UK is the same. “Our alliance is important with the United States. The conversations I have had have been two-way, respectful for both sides. Australia gives respect and we deserve respect.” Australian exports to the US have been saddled with the baseline tariff rate of 10%, with steel and aluminium incurring a 50% tariff. Of course, Albanese has to negotiate a reduction in Trump’s threat to impose tariffs of 200% on pharmaceuticals, to appease Big Pharma who donate heavily to presidential campaigns. There are fears that tariffs on Australian pharmaceuticals could cost the economy up to $2.8 billion. Big Pharma wants trump to negotiate to force Australia to make change to our Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) which keeps drugs cheap here compared to the US. Australia says it won’t negotiate on the PBS. Japan’s proposed tariff rate is 25% despite its Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba being one of the first leaders to head to the Oval Office after Trump’s inauguration. Trump, who also cancelled a first meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung at the G7, has also proposed a 25% tariff on Korean goods. The UK remains on the 10% baseline under its trade deal but did negotiate a reduction in tariffs on cars and steel imported to the US. Albanese’s visit to China evoked past trips to the Middle Kingdom by Labor icons Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke with stops to the Great Wall and to see pandas respectively.
And that’s it for this week. And next week, I’ll be talking to Charles Zerafa, Senior Finance Broker with Integrity Finance Australia. With over 25 years of experience in Business and Corporate Banking who has amassed a remarkable track record of handling lending applications exceeding $1 billion, encompassing diverse industries from small businesses to multinational corporations,
And I’ll be talking to Indeed economist Callam Pickering about the latest jobs figures and the surprising spike in unemployment.
For the most exclusive access to leading economists and business leaders from around the world, subscribe to Talking Business from my website leongettler.com
If you like Talking Business, please leave us a review with Apple podcasts. Thank you in advance.
In the meantime you can find me on Facebook, Twitter or X as it’s now known, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
If you want to contact me, email me at leon@leongettler.com. I answer all emails.
Also in my spare time, I have a copywriting business. If anyone needs newsletters, blogs, articles or advertorial, email me.
Looking forward to the next episode of Talking Business.
Welcome to Talking Business, a podcast produced in Melbourne Australia. The podcast is available on the Acast site, my own website, the Apple podcast store or wherever you go to get your podcasts. Or you can get it at the Business Acumen website at https://www.businessacumen.biz/.
For the most exclusive access to leading economists and business leaders from around the world, subscribe to Talking Business from my website leongettler.com.
I am Leon Gettler. My job is tor review and monitor the week’s news in business finance and economics. I bring it all to you every week.
This is episode number 24 in our series for 2025 and today’s date is Friday July 25.
First, I’ll be talking to D J Greer, an entrepreneurial coach. We’ll look at how he creates high performing and high growth start-ups and mid-market businesses, examining the challenges they face. He also helps entrepreneurs challenged with alcoholism or addiction, drawing from his own experience with drink.
And I’ll be talking to RMIT economist Jonathon Boymal about trends in the Australian property market.
But first, let’s talk to David J Greer.
So what’s happening in the news?
The European Union thought it was on the verge of a deal with the U.S. to keep tariffs in check. Now it is readying a counterattack. U.S. officials told the EU’s trade chief this past week that they expect President Trump to demand further concessions from the bloc to get an agreement, including a baseline tariff on most European goods that could be in the range of 15% or higher. That was an unwelcome surprise for the EU, which had been working toward an agreement that would have kept baseline tariffs at 10%, already a tough concession for some of its 27 countries. The shift prompted Germany, Europe’s biggest economy and its largest exporter, which had previously been more dovish on U.S. retaliation, to swing closer to France’s more confrontational position, according to people close to the discussions. Now, EU member states are pressing the bloc’s executive body to prepare new and potent measures to hit back against U.S. companies, beyond retaliatory tariffs on goods, if a deal can’t be reached the August 1 deadline set by Trump. “All options are on the table,” a German official said Friday. The official said there was still time to negotiate a deal but added, “If they want war, they will get war.” What sort of war? On Friday, Berlin signaled it could support the EU using its so-called anticoercion instrument, a legal tool that lets the bloc hit back at economic bullying with a range of restrictions on trade and investment. It has never been used before. EU officials view the tool as the bloc’s most powerful trade weapon, and a last resort. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who leads the EU’s executive arm, said earlier this month that the instrument was created for emergencies “and we are not there yet.” That assessment could change. The commission is already preparing measures that could be introduced using the anticoercion instrument, people briefed on the matter said. Member states now say they want the tool to be ready. The push to increase potential countermeasures marks a turning point for the EU after months of negotiations to salvage the world’s biggest trading relationship. More than $5 billion of goods and services moves between the two economies every day, according to EU data. The European Commission, which is in charge of the bloc’s trade policy, said Sunday that it wants a negotiated, mutually beneficial agreement and remains deeply engaged in negotiations. If no satisfactory outcome is found, all options remain on the table, a spokesman said. On Sunday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick expressed optimism about reaching an agreement with the EU. “I am confident we’ll get a deal done,” Lutnick said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “And it will be great for America, because the president has the back of America.” The EU suspects that’s BS. The bloc has little to show for his efforts. Earlier this month Trump threatened 30% tariffs on imports of most goods from the EU, up from the 20% the president first floated in April. Even German officials, who have pressed for a quick deal, no longer see an agreement with the U.S. as the most likely outcome. people familiar with the matter said. In the months since Trump took office, EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič has flown to Washington half a dozen times. He has had multiple calls and texts with U.S. trade officials. And he has said Europe was willing to lower tariffs and buy tens of billions of dollars of U.S. energy products and advanced semiconductors.
Donald Trump’s lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch threatens to rupture the bond that has held the US Right together for the last decade. Trump is suing Murdoch after The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by Murdoch, published an embarrassing letter allegedly from Trump in the 50th birthday scrapbook for Jeffrey Epstein, the paedophile who would later die by suicide in jail. The typed letter reportedly included a drawing made with a “heavy marker” of a naked woman over which Trump had allegedly signed his name over pubic hair, with a message wishing that “every day be another wonderful secret”. Trump, who categorically denies it was his drawing or words, had threatened Murdoch that he would “sue his ass off and that of his third rate newspaper”. As if anyone would be able to get Murdoch’s ass. But then Murdoch chose to publish. The newspaper says it will defend its reporting in court. And here’s the thing: the lawsuit looks likely to maintain public attention on Trump’s friendship with Epstein which Trump claims ended years before Epstein was convicted on a prostitution solicitation charge in 2008. That’s not a good look for the US president. The 94-year-old Murdoch is weighing up whether Trump is losing his grip on the Maga movement over the Epstein saga. The Maga people are rebelling against Trump. Murdoch, whose mother lived to 103, thinks he is going to live forever and that he will outlast 79-year-old Trump. Watch this space!
Healthscope, Australia’s second largest hospital operator, which collapsed into administration in May with $1.6 billion in debt, has got the ball rolling on becoming a not-for-profit company. It’s working on a proposal to put in front of its 30-plus lenders. As part of this, it’s exploring applying to the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) to become a registered organisation, aided by receivers McGrathNicol. That would be one of several steps it needs to take to become a non-profit entity. Healthscope is gung-ho on the not-for-profit plan for several reasons. First, it avoids major disruption by keeping the hospital group intact in the face of a possible break-up as bidders jostle for individual hospitals. Larger operators also have better leverage when negotiating with health insurers, trade unions and landlords. Tax is also a key consideration. Not-for-profits are exempt from payroll tax. With about 19,000 staff on its books, this would save Healthscope around $80 million to $100 million annually. Improved earnings mean it can likely raise additional external debt, allowing it to pay out existing lenders and hedge funds. For government, the argument goes that if Healthscope were sold to a not-for-profit rival like St Vincents, Calvary Health Care or St John of God Health Care, the state would forgo that revenue stream. Finally, as a not-for-profit, Healthscope can mount a pitch to ideologically driven surgeons that they can operate at a for-purpose organisation that doesn’t impose religious restrictions on certain procedures like abortions. Surgeons are a key revenue source, and the sector is in a war for talent. The fate of Healthscope’s not-for-profit plan will ultimately be decided by its lenders, chief among them London’s Plus Capital and Los Angeles-based Canyon Partners. Its pitch is that Healthscope can only be sold once, and allowing management to run it as a group free from crushing debt and rent woes will benefit the shareholders.
Chinese brands will make up almost half of new vehicles sold in Australia within a decade in the most substantial shift in the market since Japanese manufacturers toppled Holden as the country’s most popular cars. By 2035, 43% of cars imported into the country will come from China, where manufacturers are increasingly at the forefront of a shift towards electric vehicles. Chinese-manufactured cars make up just 17% of sales now, according to the Centre for International Economics, a research firm engaged by automotive dealers to forecast future demand. Ten years ago, according to the analysis, almost no cars were imported from China; Japan, with 29%, had the biggest share of sales in Australia. “We saw the rise of Japan in Australia. We saw the rise of Korea as an automotive manufacturing power. But I think what’s different with China is the scale and the absolute speed with which they are bringing products to market,” said James Voortman, the chief executive of the Australian Automotive Dealer Association, which represents car yards, said. “There is a mentality there that if you can succeed in Australia, you’re setting yourself up for success in the rest of the world. If we see brand departures from Australia, like we saw with Holden some time ago, that can only be bad.You won’t have a place to service your car. You won’t have a brand to honour your recall obligations. Given that the motor vehicle is generally either the largest or second-largest purchase that a consumer makes, that is a bit concerning.” Led by the largest manufacturers like BYD, Geely and Chery, Chinese carmakers are aggressively expanding, not only in Australia but in Europe and the United States. BYD, which has overtaken Tesla as the best-selling electric vehicle manufacturer in Australia, recorded a 368% increase in sales in June compared to the same period last year, according to MA Moelis. Chery and GWM, other established brands, also grew quickly. At least 23 Chinese brands are already for sale in Australia or have confirmed launch plans, while another five are likely to arrive soon, according to the dealers’ association. Those include Avatr, an SUV manufacturer part-owned by commodities giant CATL, and Foton Motor, which specialises in trucks and sports utility vehicles.
New ANZ chief executive Nuno Matos has admonished employees in a series of town hall meetings held at the bank over the past month, saying he was receiving a high volume of complaints about service, and flagging a cultural overhaul as he stamps his authority over the major lender. Matos spoke about a “permanent transformation” that would affect every employee as the former HSBC executive, who took the top job in May, reworked its leadership team. “The culture has to pivot, has to evolve from a culture that is respectful and is friendly, collaborative, and on top of that, a culture that is clear,” Matos said. “People know what to do and what not to do. That is decisive,” he told the meeting in Sydney, adding how he was hearing from up to five customers every day. We will be in permanent transformation in today’s business environment, change is the name of the game … There is not a single person in this company that cannot transform the company a little bit.” Matos arrived at ANZ after a tumultuous period for the bank, which remains under investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for allegedly manipulating the market when it sold $1.4 billion in government bonds in 2023. It has been excluded from lucrative bond sales by the Australian Office of Financial Management since. When Matos joined HSBC in 2015, he was tasked with cleaning up a considerable scandal after American prosecutors found at least $US881 million in drug trafficking money was laundered through HSBC’s accounts. A Senate inquiry in the US also condemned the bank for moving funds for those linked to al-Qaeda and Hezbollah, and helping Iran, Sudan and North Korea evade sanctions.
Nine Entertainment’s largest shareholder, billionaire media and property magnate Bruce Gordon, is quietly eyeing off ways to seize control of the company after it finalises the sale of its stake in real estate business Domain. Mr Gordon owns 19.98% of Nine through its private investment firm, Birketu, and swaps that he intends to convert to equity by November that will take his shareholding to 25.22%. Gordon is mulling whether to then make a full takeover bid for Nine or, more likely, use the creep provisions to increase his stake by 3% every six months, once the Domain sale has been completed and Nine’s valuation drops. Mr Gordon is a titan in a shrinking field of billionaires who still like free-to-air TV. He already owns WIN, the world’s largest privately owned regional television network and infrastructure-style property company, but has long harboured ambitions to own Nine. The 96-year-old businessman insists age has not wearied his desire to control Nine and put himself in the same sphere – on the domestic media front at least – as rival media owners Kerry Stokes, Nine’s former owner, the late Kerry Packer or even Rupert Murdoch who is 94.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has denied the lack of a first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump is hurting Australian interests, arguing no other country had secured better trade arrangements and Australia “gives and deserves respect”. He also says his five-day, six-night visit to China Albanese has produced concrete outcomes and has denied that he is being too deferential towards Beijing at a time when geopolitical tensions are ratcheting up. “I support Australia’s national interest and I engage with the world as it is, rather than as some people would like it to be,” he said. “Australia’s national interest is served by having engagement with China.” Albanese’s visit to China was the longest by an Australian prime minister in living memory and he was feted in Beijing, spending almost five hours with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang. While Albanese has now met Xi four times, he may not hold talks with Trump until September, when international summit season kicks off, after the US president cancelled a planned meeting last month on the sidelines of the G7 in Canada. Some rare public disagreements between Canberra and Washington have also emerged with the Trump administration pushing Australia and another close ally Japan to lift defence spending and pre-commit forces to defending Taiwan. A Pentagon review has cast doubt on the plan to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia under AUKUS. Albanese and senior ministers have also criticised Trump’s imposition of tariffs on Australian exports to the US as “not the act of a friend”. Ministers also drew comparisons with Trump’s small government agenda to tar former opposition leader Peter Dutton as Trump-lite during the election campaign. The opposition has accused Albanese of letting the bipartisan relationship with the US drift by not building a bond with Trump, who values personal connections with leaders. But the PM denies Australia is on the nose with Trump and his team, contrasting his approach to countries that have engaged more directly with the US. “No country has got a better arrangement at this point in time on tariffs than Australia,” Albanese said. “I support free and fair trade. We do not support tariffs. But no country has received a better outcome. The announcements that have been made – Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam – have all been higher than Australia’s tariffs and the UK is the same. “Our alliance is important with the United States. The conversations I have had have been two-way, respectful for both sides. Australia gives respect and we deserve respect.” Australian exports to the US have been saddled with the baseline tariff rate of 10%, with steel and aluminium incurring a 50% tariff. Of course, Albanese has to negotiate a reduction in Trump’s threat to impose tariffs of 200% on pharmaceuticals, to appease Big Pharma who donate heavily to presidential campaigns. There are fears that tariffs on Australian pharmaceuticals could cost the economy up to $2.8 billion. Big Pharma wants trump to negotiate to force Australia to make change to our Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) which keeps drugs cheap here compared to the US. Australia says it won’t negotiate on the PBS. Japan’s proposed tariff rate is 25% despite its Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba being one of the first leaders to head to the Oval Office after Trump’s inauguration. Trump, who also cancelled a first meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung at the G7, has also proposed a 25% tariff on Korean goods. The UK remains on the 10% baseline under its trade deal but did negotiate a reduction in tariffs on cars and steel imported to the US. Albanese’s visit to China evoked past trips to the Middle Kingdom by Labor icons Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke with stops to the Great Wall and to see pandas respectively.
And that’s it for this week. And next week, I’ll be talking to Charles Zerafa, Senior Finance Broker with Integrity Finance Australia. With over 25 years of experience in Business and Corporate Banking who has amassed a remarkable track record of handling lending applications exceeding $1 billion, encompassing diverse industries from small businesses to multinational corporations,
And I’ll be talking to Indeed economist Callam Pickering about the latest jobs figures and the surprising spike in unemployment.
For the most exclusive access to leading economists and business leaders from around the world, subscribe to Talking Business from my website leongettler.com
If you like Talking Business, please leave us a review with Apple podcasts. Thank you in advance.
In the meantime you can find me on Facebook, Twitter or X as it’s now known, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
If you want to contact me, email me at leon@leongettler.com. I answer all emails.
Also in my spare time, I have a copywriting business. If anyone needs newsletters, blogs, articles or advertorial, email me.
Looking forward to the next episode of Talking Business.
