Ed Husic calls Trump’s tariffs a ‘dog act’ as PM faces criticism for failing to negotiate carve-out

The industry minister, Ed Husic, has called Donald Trump’s tariffs on aluminium and steel a “dog act”, as Australian parliamentarians continue to react with shock to the decision not to issue Australia a carve-out.

The Trump administration announced it had rejected Australia’s request for an exemption to the tariffs that took effect on Wednesday afternoon local time. The tariffs will add a 25% tax on all steel and aluminium exports to the US.

Trump last month promised Anthony Albanese “great consideration” for a carve-out, despite the White House trade adviser, Peter Navarro, consistently accusing Australia of “dumping” its steel and aluminium in the US.

The prime minister faced criticism on Wednesday for not securing the carve-out, with the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, saying the US decision was a “failure” by the government, which had not been able to get Trump on the phone. But the former ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos told ABC’s 7.30 the chance of getting an exemption was “less than 50%”.

“My view is we should have expected today’s decision,” Sinodinos, a former Liberal party senator, said.

“I think the reality was that even if [Albanese] dashed here [to the US] in the last few days, I don’t think it would have worked.

“It’s very clear to me that, compared with the first administration under Trump, they were determined not to have exemptions and exceptions where possible.”

Sinodinos said it was “wise” of the federal government not to escalate the matter, adding that “we’ve got to play it cool”.

“We’ve got a new customer in the White House; we’ve got to understand what buttons to push to get what we want,” he said.

On Wednesday, Albanese criticised the decision not to give Australia an exemption as “not a friendly act” and called the tariffs “unjustified”. But Husic went further, saying Australians have “spilled blood” alongside Americans over a century of friendship.

“I think this is a dog act after over a century of friendship. Australians have stood by and stood with Americans for many decades,” he told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.

“Australians have spilled blood alongside Americans in different conflicts. We have stood together not just from a national security perspective but from an economic security perspective as well.”

The prime minister, senior cabinet members and the opposition traded barbs throughout the day on Wednesday over the tariffs.

Dutton told reporters in Brisbane Albanese and Australia’s ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, “have had a shocker”.

“The prime minister can’t secure a phone call, let alone a meeting with the president of the United States,” Dutton said. “How on earth can an outcome be negotiated if the president won’t even take the prime minister’s call?”

Dutton also called the trade minister, Don Farrell, “hapless” in his inability to negotiate the carve-out and claimed a Coalition government could have secured an exemption.

Albanese took several interviews on Wednesday afternoon in which he responded to Dutton’s claims.

“Seriously, Peter Dutton had a choice of backing Australia or backing the Trump administration and has chosen once again to talk Australia down,” he told 3AW.

“The fact is that no other country has succeeded on steel or aluminium tariffs. None have received an exemption. A bit like his nuclear plan, it’s just one bit of evidence that Peter Dutton lives in some sort of fantasy land.”

The foreign minister, Penny Wong, told ABC’s 7.30 that Dutton had chosen to go for the “political attack”, accusing him of “recklessness” in his comments.

She said the prime minister had requested a further phone call with Trump and an “unprecedented” amount of work had been done in Washington before the changes came into effect.

“President Trump has said he will do things differently,” Wong said. “We shouldn’t be surprised if he does and he is.

“We had a harder hill to climb on this occasion.”

Farrell told Sky News it was “a very bad day for our relationship with the United States”.

“I ignore these insults. I don’t think it’s helpful on a day like today,” he said.

“I think we have done absolutely everything we could do in the circumstances … I don’t believe that there was any intention on the part of the United States government to give us an exemption.”

In a statement, the independent senator Jacqui Lambie warned Australia needs to “stand up to Trump”.

“America is no longer a reliable ally – hopefully that will change, but in the meantime we can’t keep assuming that America has our back. Trump clearly doesn’t have anyone’s back except his own.”