this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2025
229 points (98.7% liked)

Australia

3833 readers
77 users here now

A place to discuss Australia and important Australian issues.

Before you post:

If you're posting anything related to:

If you're posting Australian News (not opinion or discussion pieces) post it to Australian News

Rules

This community is run under the rules of aussie.zone. In addition to those rules:

Banner Photo

Congratulations to @[email protected] who had the most upvoted submission to our banner photo competition

Recommended and Related Communities

Be sure to check out and subscribe to our related communities on aussie.zone:

Plus other communities for sport and major cities.

https://aussie.zone/communities

Moderation

Since Kbin doesn't show Lemmy Moderators, I'll list them here. Also note that Kbin does not distinguish moderator comments.

Additionally, we have our instance admins: @[email protected] and @[email protected]

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I hope we respond by putting tariffs on American pickups. Democratic nations need to cut the US out of the global economy entirely until they learn how to act right.

Apologies if there's any weirdness in this post, it's my first one.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

Doesnt the US have important deals and strategic assets re. Space industry and defense here in Aus? Why the heck aren't we negotiating these tarifs?

[–] [email protected] 50 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I suspect these announcements by Trump are nothing but stock market scams with a whole bunch of insider trading going on.

Trump removed tariffs from Mexico and Canada after a few days. We'll see what happens with this

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago (3 children)

He removed them for nothing. He was tricked. Both Canada and Mexico agreed to do things they were already going to do and Trump folded.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago

there were stock market movements based on what Trump said

people who have insider knowledge would be able to make a lot of money on that

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago

USian here. It really didn't matter - his friendly media repeated the lie that he forced those bad old countries to beef up drug and immigration enforcement via his big strong negotiation style. The fact that it's nonsense has no bearing on the political reality here, sadly.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago

they were not removed, they were paused for 30 days, let's check back in 3 weeks, eh?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

He's put back the 25% tariffs on Canadian steel

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 44 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Oh please Albanese, put a 50% tariff on American cars.

[–] [email protected] 41 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

We’re talking about Albo here, he’ll apologise and ask if Trump can double it.

Dutton would offer the country to be annexed mind you.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Even the "polite" Canadians fought back - and won. Everyone would when it's the economy at stake.

Still, no way he's touching truck prices.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

Just American ones. There are multiple non us alternatives.

[–] [email protected] 43 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Heyyyyyy welcome to the "being threatened by the USA because Trump felt like it" club!

-EU + Denmark, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Panama.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's an honour to be part of this prestigious and exclusive group! ☺️

[–] ikidd 3 points 1 week ago

It's less exclusive every day.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 week ago (5 children)

I think we can all do something. I know our economy is tiny, but Australia buys way more from the US than they buy from us... and you know what a big chunk of that is? Services. Some of those are hard to shift but others are easier.

I've hosted all my websites and registered all my domains in the US for over 20 years.

That changed yesterday and I'm transferring everything over to Australia.

For Fedi, look at Australian servers where you can. Subscriptions? Fuck off Netflix et al. Get out of Google as much as you can. If you're here you are probably already out of FB and Reddit, but leave anything else you can that is US based and try to support AU or EU.

Don't buy US foods, cars, or technology where possible (let's face it, most of those are crap anyway).

And you know what, most of the US based internet is shit now too. It was fun 20 years ago, but consistent enshittification has been the worst in the US. At least the EU is trying to fight it.

Yes our economy is tiny, but we can change more than you might think, and as the rest of the world probably will do similar, the US won't be quite as well off as it thinks it is.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Canadian here. This is exactky what we are doing. Everything we can not to support anything "America". Welcome to the fuck them club.

[–] frunch 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

As an American, this is wacky to read--but I'm fully in support. What can i say, i think there's some good ones here but not enough to balance out all the shite ones ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It was a good run, i guess? Lol

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Sorry for the good ones but we have to start thinking about ourselves now more than ever.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

I'm sorry for the good ones, but the current actions are a huge threat to democracy worldwide, and while I think the puppet masters expect this response and globalisation is already in the process of collapsing (read The End of the World Is just the Beginning - Mapping the Collapse of Globalisation by Peter Zeihan) we can try and avoid this fate elsewhere. It is NOT inevitable that the tech bros rule us all as serfs, but getting away from Big Tech, means cutting off the US out of our digital lives as much as we can.

Everyone here is ahead of the game 👍

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Never been on Facebook, just got a lifetime ban from Reddit for being mean to magats. 🤣

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

A lot of US brands are just relabeled Chinese stuff with a markup. They get us badly on financial, services and IP. I am down to one streaming service and I only have one US based hosting service left which I will be moving to Australian owned hosting soon. My PCs run open source except for games. I will probably keep buying Steam games but it isn't realistic to totally cut out US business. Things like PayPal and Netflix are easy to do without.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Wise beyond your years @[email protected]

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I guess trump doesn't want our rare earths. Us and China hold a duopoly so good luck.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

Unless China gets control of our mining companies and then we lose that strategic advantage.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You know that despite how everything panned out out in Canada. Albo is going to immediately fold and spend his final days in office grovelling.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Dutton will suck the orange right off Trumps cock.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Of course but in the meantime he will hypocritically anyone who’ll listen how pisspoor Albo is

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 week ago

I hope we respond by putting tariffs on American pickups.

I kinda don't want this. Because I want those yank tanks taxed and/or regulated regardless, because it's the right thing to do, and I don't want progress towards that to be undermined by being seen to get caught up in a bullshit trade war.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I remember reading that the government was hoping that because we run a trade deficit with the yanks they wouldn't do this. Look forward to that just being the assumption and the government having done 0 planning.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 week ago (1 children)

@spiffmeister
Didn't we just hand over $800,000,000 for those used submarines we bought on gumtree? I'm sure the yanks are good for it, they said they were our mates, right?
@TheCriticalMember

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago

The United states can't be trusted as a trading partner anymore. trump doesn't even honour his own deals.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago (3 children)

there was absolutely no planning any country can do to survive an insane trade war with the united states. nothing. there's no other trading partners that can take the exports in the volume every country trades with the US, without taking devastating hits to their own economies, which would see recession and depressions on a scale never experienced before in the modern world.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

What can you really do to prepare for something like this? Specifically against the US which is:

Iron Ore to China: China was the dominant market for Australian iron ore, accounting for around 85% of exports. This amounted to approximately AU$115 billion in value in 2023, with over 736 million tonnes shipped in 2022

vs

Steel to America: United States: Exports of steel to the U.S. were much higher, totaling US$237.51 million in 2023. Key products included flat-rolled and semi-finished steel2.

https://www.perplexity.ai/search/how-much-iron-ore-and-steel-do-5bWZvTZeRqSNQSlFbu1MBg

I'd like to know more about just how big our steel industry is apart of the exports pie especially compared to iron ore but I suspect we may be blowing this tariff out of proportion

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

So the question is: what is he trying to distract from now.

[–] shalafi 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

First go round, yeah, Trump was distracting on purpose. The thing everyone seems to be missing is that, the man isn't in charge any more.

Look at his tweets, or whatever the fuck they're called, mostly focused and on point. Listen to his words, he doesn't ramble on and on and on. We only hear truncated quips.

Anyone remember how he got more and more demented as the election came closer? Anyone remember how his cognition dropped off a cliff in 2021 or so, and continued downwards, fast?

The Project 2025 people have got him locked in as a mouthpiece, nothing more. Competent people are now in charge, this won't be like 2017.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'd actually request more weirdness in future, please.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago

I'll see what I can do! 😉

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago

The only problem is you used MSN which is using the Daily Mail as a source? An American source using a UK (garbage dump of a) source to report on Australia? :\

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago (5 children)

ummmmm, there's a reason people, companies, and nations want to trade with the united states, it's because they have the largest economy, with the richest per capital spending power of any place in the world, with 342 million people. no one is "cutting the us out of the global economy" not even countries that trump is about to punish with economy wrecking tariffs, he'll just tariff you more. this sounds like a good plan, until you run the numbers, and "Cutting the US our of the global economy" reduces every nations ability to trade by 20% - 50%, and that my friends, leads to hundreds of millions of people into destitution and poverty on a scale no one has ever seen before. I mean with one fell swoop Trump did away with USAID and it's $40 billion dollar foreign aid budget, which in turn cut off tens/hundreds of millions of real live human beings, all across the world, from foreign aid consisting of life sustaining food, clean water, & medication, the death toll will be astronomical. soverign nations like saying they can do without the us, but if you watch closely people are going to start dying from just $40 billion being taken away. that's a fraction or a fraction of a fraction of the trade monies exchanged with the us.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago (5 children)

The US is a failed state. We're going to have to learn to live without it sooner or later. The only reason it has so much influence is because we all made it the centre of the global economy. That's what needs to change.

load more comments (5 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

They'll just beg, and then roll over and ask for more when that doesn't work

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

We have to shoot our own feet untill they learn how to walk.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

"Omg! Australia is attacking the US!" <- How our (US) media covers this, probably.

What is our dumbfuck president claiming for an excuse to tariff another one of our Five Eyes allies? What is the perceived slight that has set off this unstable man-baby POTUS?

(Did not read the article.. assuming answers can be found there.)

(Edit: have now read the article)

President Trump's announcement was made a day after Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles met with American Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. 

'That this advice has been given the day after our Deputy Prime Minister was in Washington to hand over billions of dollars to secure the AUKUS submarine deal is particularly troubling,' Mr Willox said.

This is all they said about the potential motivations. They had a meeting with our Christian Nationalist unqualified news commentator defense secretary, made a deal where Australia is paying the US for submarines. Now you all are getting Art-of -the-Deal'd. I would call it extortion and an act of war.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Aight boys, time to start putting it back in the ground.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)
load more comments
view more: next ›