The timing of the confirmation of Donald Trump of 25 percent rates for Australian steel and aluminum export to the United States cannot be worse.
While we count down to a federal election, each of the reactions to Trump's reckless movement are particularly counterproductive.
First we enjoyed Malcolm Turnbull from his 30 seconds back in the spotlight, thanks to a war war with the American president who went viral.
It was not useful for the national interests of Australia to say the least, but Turnbull was clearly not busy about that.
Today, as soon as the confirmation of the new rates was confirmed, despite the efforts of Australia to lobby against them, everyone from the Prime Minister to the deputy Prime Minister to the Minister of Foreign Affairs focused on Trump's decision in the media.
Megaphone diplomacy rarely achieves results. We must not forget that it took the government of Turnbull for eight months to convince Trump in his first term to reverse his tariff increase.
This time it is early days to resort to publicly destroy the president. Especially considering what we know about how Trump responds to such a Bollocking.
Admittedly, it is an idiot policy movement for Trump to have made the US and will do more harm than those of the rates have been designed to punish. But let's not fool ourselves: unless you are an Australian stem or aluminum exporter, and there are not many of them, the new rates are very few.
Anthony Albanese has branded Donald Trump's decision to hit rates on Australian steel and aluminum export to the US as 'completely unjustified' and 'not a friendly act'
The political significance is much greater than all the economic consequences that result from the new rates. The affected industry is relatively small.
Fortunately, while the political class loses their collective mind rhetorically in public, Albanian also quickly excluded any form of broader tariff delay.
This is important because this would certainly have unleashed higher inflation in its own country, not to mention the risk that the US will take revenge with wider and possibly even higher rates for other industries.
The opposition, for his part, is trying to have Trump's TarieFfetish a serious act of neglect by labor. They are also in campaign mode.
However, I am not sure if that is true. These rates looked like in operation, regardless of which political party was in power and who also tried to argue the case against them. Even if the Australian ambassador of the US Kevin Rudd was the worst possible option if our frontman in negotiations, given the hooks he has thrown over the years.
But between all the rhetorical indignation and convictions, it is worth remembering that the last time Australia managed to talk Trump administration in the first term by imposing higher rates in 2018, it took all eight months to win the argument.
This argument has therefore just begun. It is a bit early to throw in the proverbial towel and swing insults in indignation, isn't it?
When asked whether Australia would be exempt from the 25 percent rates, the media was told that Donald Trump was considering it and considered it '
Instead of Lampen and falling to his level with personal abuse, those who represent Australia would be better looking for the decision.
Who knows, maybe that may be on time when geopolitical circumstances have changed.
The problem is that doing something quiet, patiently and behind closed doors where no credit is given for results that are achieved much further, does not work during the countdown of real -time elections.
Such a climate, as we now come in, gives rise to the beating of the breast and the great status, which neither of them will probably love Australian arguments to a president who has a preference to take insults quite personal.
