On Friday, the Trump administration used a new rationale to impose tariffs of between 10 and 12.5 per cent on imports from 86 countries. Australia has been slapped with a 12.5 per cent tariff for – wait for it – failing to take sufficient action on allowing goods produced with forced labour to enter our supply chains. As Joe Biden used to say, “come on, man”.On its face, this looks bad for Australia, with our baseline tariff rate moving up from 10 to 12.5 per cent. Now, I hate tariffs with the white-hot-intensity of a thousand suns. But this is actually good news for Australia.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles