The Albanese government is preparing to take the United States to the World Trade Organisation if more of Donald Trump's tariffs are imposed on Australian goods. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has visited Victoria and Tasmania on the election campaign trail today.
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00:00Anthony Albanese has landed in Burnie for the first time this campaign, his first trip
00:06to northern Tasmania for this election as well. Northern Tasmania could be critical
00:11to the outcome of this election. Picking up seats like this seat of Braddon, which is
00:15held on a margin of about 8% by the Liberal Party, could be vital to Labor's hopes of
00:21maintaining government. He's here back on his healthcare pitch announcing $8 million
00:27in funding for a new health hub, alongside Labor's candidate for Braddon, Anne Urquhart,
00:32who's moving from the Senate to contest this seat in the lower house and try to win this
00:37seat from retiring Liberal MP Gavin Pearce. As the Prime Minister is campaigning across
00:43the country, of course, events around the world continue to roll on that need to be
00:47dealt with too. One, of course, is the looming announcement of new tariffs from the Trump
00:52administration. Australia is bracing for the outcome of those deliberations over in
00:58the US. Liberation Day is due to happen overnight Australian time, with announcements expected
01:03early tomorrow. Australian industry, including agriculture and pharmaceuticals in particular,
01:08are bracing for the impact there with an expectation that new tariffs could be delivered. Now,
01:14there is an understanding that Australia might be preparing to take the United States to
01:19the World Trade Organization should new tariffs be applied to Australia in some of those sectors.
01:24The Prime Minister was asked about that earlier. I don't want to pre-empt the decision that's
01:30made by the United States in the coming period. What I can say is that we're prepared for
01:39all possibilities going forward. I repeat what I've said before, which is that tariffs
01:47are an act of economic self-harm on those who impose it. It increases the costs for buyers in
01:53the United States of America. Tasmania is the sixth state or territory that's been visited in
01:59just the first few days of this campaign, the first five days of this campaign, should the PM
02:04head to the Northern Territory. That would complete a circuit of the country in some sense. So
02:09certainly an appearance, at least, of an energetic start to this Labor campaign.