Pressure is on the Australian government to secure a tariff exemption for local industry after President Donald Trump announced a 25 per cent impost on all steel and aluminium imports to the US.

It was still unclear on Monday morning whether Australian exporters would be included in the tariffs, given they were exempted under similar measures imposed by Mr Trump during his first term.

But a tariff on Australian goods would be a “slap in the face” for domestic industry and the US-Australian alliance, said Australia Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox.

“It is now up to the federal government to quickly step in and protect Australian industry and producers from being caught up in a rapidly escalating global trade war,” he said.

“Reversing these tariffs must be a national priority and the government must use all the leverage at its disposal to quickly turn this around.”

Australian government ministers have been meeting with their incoming US counterparts for months, pushing the case for exemptions from potential tariffs.

While Defence Minister Richard Marles has already met US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Trade Minister Don Farrell has been unable to speak directly with his counterpart Howard Lutnick, as he has yet to be confirmed by the US Senate.

“Our bilateral economic relationship is mutually beneficial,” Senator Farrell said.

“Australian steel and aluminium is creating thousands of good paying American jobs, and are key for our shared defence interests too.”

Opposition trade spokesman Kevin Hogan said it was time critical for the government to ensure Australian industry receives an exemption from the tariffs, like the one the coalition managed to secure when it was in power in 2018.

“A critical component was a strong ambassador – we had Ambassador Hockey who helped Australia to successfully negotiate exemptions from United States steel and aluminium tariffs,” he said.

“The Ambassador to the US is one of the most critical diplomatic roles Australia has. Albanese hand-picked Kevin Rudd for this position. Albanese and Rudd have a big job to do here.”

Pepperstone head of research Chris Weston said Australia’s exposure to the US market was not huge, so the impact of the tariffs would be relatively manageable in the grand scheme of things.

Australian exports of iron and steel to the US valued $US237.5 million in 2023 while aluminium exports valued $US316.9, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database.

For some Australian metals producers, like BlueScope Steel, the impact of the tariffs could even be beneficial.

“If you’re a direct producer of steel and you’re selling to the US market, obviously you’re going to take a hit from this,” Mr Weston said.

“But if you’re buying steel in the market and using steel for your final products, there could be a short-term negative hit to the steel price that could benefit your business.”

BlueScope shares climbed by more than two per cent in Monday morning trading on the ASX.

In a statement, Bluescope said it would work with the Trump administration and the Australian government, noting the company has invested heavily in the US, boosting American employment.

“Most recently, we have spent $2 billion on acquisitions and brownfields expansion of our operations there,” a spokesperson said.

“BlueScope is now the fifth-largest steel producer in the US, employing 4,000 American workers.”

Economist Chris Richardson said the key implication of the tariffs for the Reserve Bank of Australia and its decision whether to lower interest rates for the first time in five years was whether they would have a bigger impact on inflation or economic growth.

“I’ve been in the camp that says, for Oz, Trump is more of a growth worry than an ongoing inflation worry,” he said in a post on X.

“But both sides of the ledger keep getting bigger.”

This post was originally published on Michael West.