Trump tariffs 'hurting investment and jobs', businesses warn

The Business Council of Australia says a new tariff will make it harder for Australian businesses to compete in the US and could reduce investment. Getting goods into the US will become 12.5 per cent more expensive for Australian exporters, as new tariffs replace ones struck out by the Supreme Court. ( US TODAY Sports/Joe Nicholson ) The US has placed a 12.5 per cent tariff on Australian exports to the US, blaming Australia's failure to enforce laws banning goods made by forced labour.

A temporary 10 per cent tariff has expired, meaning Australian exporters will be paying a further 2.5 per cent. The Australian government says it will continue to lobby against the tariffs on Australian goods. Businesses say a new tariff on Australian exports to the United States will make it harder to compete and could reduce investment.

The Trump administration has confirmed a 12.5 per cent tariff has been imposed on Australian exports to the US, which it says is due to Australia's failure to enforce laws banning goods made by forced labour. A temporary 10 per cent "global tariff" on the US's trading partners has now expired. That replaced the "liberation day" tariff regime, announced last year, which was scuppered earlier this year by the US Supreme Court.

Legal analysts suspect this approach, applying a fee imposed on foreign countries that engage in unreasonable trade practices, will be more enduring. The US is Australia's largest two-way investment partner, with total investment exceeding $2 trillion. "It's just another punch to roll with, to be honest, said swimwear retailer Tom Wilson.

The founder of Nashie told the ABC the rollercoaster of fees for exporting goods to the US made business more difficult. "Changing prices is a really big deal, he said. Nashie clothing co-founder Tom Wilson at the company's Brisbane headquarters.

( ABC News: Dean Caton ) Jeffrey Grosset is the owner and founder of Grosset Wines in the Clare Valley, South Australia. Jeff Grosset has been making wine for 37 years in South Australia's Clare Valley, a region famed for its Riesling. ( ABC News: Simon Royal ) He told the ABC's Isabella Kelly that the local wine industry will lose its presence in the massive US market.

"If America decides to become more isolationist, which it appears to be doing through this … then regrettably, it might hurt American consumers because they don't get to see us, but it will hurt us more. That's the reality, he said. Trade Minister Don Farrell says Australia is disappointed in the US's decision to raise tariffs on Australia's exports.

Speaking at a press conference in Adelaide, Mr Farrell says the tariffs are "completely unjustified". He has defended Australia's anti-modern slavery regime, which he says is taken seriously. "We continue to maintain that these tariffs are unjustified.

Australia is a country that deals with the issue of modern slavery seriously, Mr Farrell said. "And from my point of view, the government's point of view, we will continue to argue very strongly for the removal of these tariffs. Richard Marles says the federal government will argue against the new tariffs."