CANBERRA, July 9 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government is very concerned about U.S. threats to impose increased tariffs on pharmaceutical and copper imports, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Wednesday.
Chalmers told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio that the federal government is urgently seeking clarification from the U.S. after President Donald Trump flagged new tariffs of 200 percent on pharmaceuticals and 50 percent on copper.
Speaking in Washington on Tuesday local time, Trump said that pharmaceutical companies would be granted a grace period to move production to the U.S. before the tariff is imposed.
Chalmers said that less than 1 percent of Australian copper exports currently go to the U.S. but that the developments around pharmaceuticals are much more concerning.
"We'll work through the announcement out of the U.S. overnight. They're obviously very concerning developments. We are talking about billions of dollars of exports to the U.S. when it comes to pharmaceuticals," he said.
According to the United Nations' Comtrade database, Australian pharmaceutical exports to the U.S. were worth 2.2 billion Australian dollars (1.4 billion U.S. dollars) in 2024, representing 44.8 percent of the total value of Australian pharmaceutical exports.
The U.S. administration in April identified Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) as a trade grievance prior to Trump announcing sweeping global tariffs.
The federal government subsidizes the cost of over 900 different medicines through the PBS, which has been criticized by the U.S. pharmaceutical industry as anti-competitive.
Chalmers on Wednesday said he wants to make it clear that the government will not "trade away or do deals on" the PBS in trade negotiations. ■
