Australian steel and aluminium remains exempt from US tariffs
Updated
The US is continuing tariff exemptions for Australian steel and aluminium producers.
A White House statement says President Donald Trump's administration has reached an in-principle deal on the tariffs with Australia, Argentina and Brazil.
It says the details of that arrangement will be finalised shortly.
Mr Trump announced in March that the US would impose a 25 per cent tariff on imported steel and a 10 per cent tax on aluminium.
Shortly after that, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Australia would be exempt.
But uncertainty remained because Mr Trump set a May 1 deadline for deciding whether that exemption would be permanent.
Today the President announced that he had struck a deal with Australia, Argentina and Brazil, but also warned that under certain circumstances he could reimpose the tariffs.
He has announced South Korea would be exempt from the tariffs because it had struck a deal to reduce the amount of steel it sends to the US.
Mr Trump has given himself another month to decide on whether the EU, Canada and Mexico would be exempt from the tariffs.
The EU has threatened to retaliate if it is not exempt, which has raised fears of a trade war.
Topics: government-and-politics, trade, international-aid-and-trade, australia
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