U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum are “self-defeating” and Australia merits better treatment, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said, adding the overall economic impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s levies to date would be relatively small.

“We’re not uniquely disadvantaged by the sorts of tariffs coming out of DC, but we deserve better as a long-term partner and ally,” Chalmers told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Tuesday. “These sorts of tariffs are self-defeating, they’ve self-sabotaging, they’re a recipe for less growth and higher inflation, not just in the U.S. but around the world.”

Chalmers will deliver his fourth national budget on March 25 ahead of an election that must be held by mid-May. The Australian treasurer said the vote would focus on making the national economy “more resilient at a time of very serious global economic uncertainty.”

In a pre-budget speech, Chalmers said the forecast impact on Australian growth from the tariffs on steel and aluminum imposed by the Trump administration last week is expected to be “less than 0.02% by 2030.”

The treasurer said he expected the overall budget bottom line not to be that dissimilar from the mid-year forecast delivered in December, despite a small upgrade in revenue in the first months of 2025.

“What you’ll likely see in the budget is that Treasury expects any upgrade next week to be about a sixth of the average of our budget updates. The smallest revenue upgrade of the four budgets, by far,” Chalmers said on Tuesday.

Australia lobbied heavily in Washington to get an exemption from the tariffs, but in the end there was no carve out, despite Trump saying he would consider the proposal.

Now Canberra’s attention has turned to new tariffs expected to be announced by Trump in April, with concerns Australia’s major exports to the U.S. could be affected, including beef and pharmaceuticals.

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