News bargaining code tariffs ‘would hurt US more’
US retaliation for the News Media Bargaining Code and other bugbears would actually hurt Americans more than Australians, according to an expert who says the Australian/US copyright deal could be revisited.
US President Donald Trump is expected to introduce global tariffs on ‘Liberation Day’ (April 2 US time) after a review into nations with “unfair trade practices” highlighted Australia among 48 nations the US is “particularly interested in” cracking down on.
In an itemised 377-page document, the Office of the US Trade Representative takes aim at a number of Australia’s trade practices with the US.
Along with our ban on uncooked meat imports, apples and pears, and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), the report focuses on what it dubbed our “electronic commerce/ digital trade barriers”.
Greg Jericho is chief economist at The Australia Institute. He reasons the prospect of Trump raising tariffs on Australian imports “due to some pretty spurious reasoning, including the PBS, the media bargaining code and even our biosecurity laws, will mostly hurt Americans.”
As he tells Mumbrella: “Americans are the ones who will pay higher prices, not Australians.”
Jericho feels the fallout for Australians will be minor.
“If he raises tariffs on all or most nations, then Australian businesses will be no more affected than those from other nations – the big impact will be that because American businesses and consumers will be paying more for all imports, they will likely buy fewer across the board.
“America is the destination of around 5% of all of Australia’s exports so we should not be panicking about the impact of tariffs on our economy. Any impacts will mostly come from the ongoing impact on the global economy which will likely slow due to these tariffs.
“Importantly Australia has a free-trade agreement with the USA – an agreement that President Trump has disregarded. But Australia actually gave up a great deal to get the USA to sign that agreement for very little in return.”
He points to our current intellectual property laws as being a strong negotiating point for Australia.
The Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) introduced stronger intellectual property laws “to protect US interests.”
This saw an extension of the copyright period applicable in Australia increased from 50 years after the death of the author (for literary, dramatic, artistic, and musical works) or 50 years after creation or publication (for sound recordings and films) to 70 years.
“After expiry, these works would enter the public domain, where they could be freely used, copied, distributed, and adapted,” he says. “These measures are not in Australian interests – they are designed to assist American media giants like Disney.
“If Donald Trump has decided the USAFTA is null and void from his point of view, then the Australian government should remind him that two can play at that game.”
The US report into Australian “irritants” reads: “Under the [News Media] Bargaining Code, designated platform services companies are required to engage in negotiations with registered Australian news media businesses to pay the news businesses for content accessed via certain services offered on the companies’ digital platforms.
“In December 2024, the Government announced its intent to tighten the rules surrounding the Bargaining Code, including by introducing a financial penalty for designated platforms that do not reach or renew commercial agreements. The United States continues to monitor this issue.”
The report also notes the government is considering Australian screen content requirements on streaming video platforms such as Netflix and Disney+, “to ensure continued access to local stories”, as per the National Cultural Policy. It notes the Australian government will be seeking to introduce legislation codifying this ahead of the May election, and “will continue to monitor this issue to ensure Australia’s compliance with its FTA obligations.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has indicated he will not come to the bargaining table on any of the import practices outlined in the report, which is likely to see Australians exporters such as the steel and aluminum industries hit in the hip pocket.
Sally Branson was former PM Tony Abbott’s senior press secretary and worked at the US Embassy for close to a decade. She doesn’t see a happy ending if the gridlock continues.
“Generally, I think there are unhappy times to come,” she tells Mumbrella.
“The line we have trotted out since the bombing of Darwin — ‘there is no greater friendship than that between Australia and the USA’ — won’t be in any talking points from now.”
Branson is currently in the US, where the only sprouts of hope for Australia might lie in the homegrown protests she is seeing over there at the moment.
After all, as Jericho pointed out, these tariffs will hurt Americans. Branson notes that, in her two decades of travelling between US and Australia, she’s never seen this level of ‘mom and pop’ protesting. “They’re on street corners with home made anti-Trump anti-Musk signs,” she says.
Michael McNeill is the local managing director for strategic advisory firm Bower Group Asia, Australia. He previously worked with Branson at the US embassy in Canberra.
“Some Australians took heart from the USTR Trade Estimate Report, given it merely said the US would continue to ‘monitor’ the issue,” McNeill tells Mumbrella. “But this should not be given much weight.” McNeill explains “the reciprocal tariff plan developed by the White House is the main game”.
“The Australian government intends to follow through with the [News Bargaining] Incentive and this may inform Trump’s April 2 announcement,” he says.
“A question is whether Trump fires a warning shot or goes hard. Meanwhile, big tech may use ‘fact checking’ as leverage, as the Australian government continues consultation on the Incentive.
“Furthermore, it’s not out of the question the Trump administration leverages other aspects of the US-Australia relationship, e.g. defence, to influence the outcome.”
Ambassador Jamieson Greer, the US trade representative, makes Trump’s intentions clear in the report.
“No American president in modern history has recognised the wide-ranging and harmful foreign trade barriers American exporters face more than President Trump,”writes Greer.
“Under his leadership, this administration is working diligently to address these unfair and non-reciprocal practices, helping restore fairness and put hardworking American businesses and workers first in the global market.”
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Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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