Every year in the budget papers, under “Statement 2” of Budget Paper no. 1, is an outlook for the international economy, including Treasury’s assessment of key risks globally. Last year, Treasury observed “the international outlook remains highly uncertain, with the balance of risks firmly tilted to the downside”.
That could apply doubly so in tomorrow’s 2024-25 budget, to be released on the same day as US President Joe Biden announces a new round of punitive tariffs against China. They will include a quadrupling of tariffs on electric vehicles — the Chinese product that Americans and Europeans are terrified of — as well as the maintenance of existing tariffs the Biden administration retained from the Trump administration, plus new tariffs on solar power equipment and medical equipment.
Crikey is committed to hosting lively discussions. Help us keep the conversation useful, interesting and welcoming. We aim to publish comments quickly in the interest of promoting robust conversation, but we’re a small team and we deploy filters to protect against legal risk. Occasionally your comment may be held up while we review, but we’re working as fast as we can to keep the conversation rolling.
The Crikey comment section is members-only content. Please subscribe to leave a comment.
The Crikey comment section is members-only content. Please login to leave a comment.