"China threatens Australia" Topic

😂

"As to the other, suffering from a non curable case of "United States Envy""

You should read more closely. Those comments were directed at your Aussie brother from another mother. But I guess the shoe must have fit.

"Carney": Here i thought his family just took their last name from the families historic profession. No?

For your edification:

"A "carney" (or carny/carnie) is North American slang for a person who works at a traveling carnival, typically running rides, games, or food stands. It often implies a manipulative or deceptive, yet charming, "hustler" persona."

Holding off letting them use that bridge, sounds like an economic leverage move to me. But if Do thóin does not believe me, here in his own words from Truth Social.

"As everyone knows, the Country of Canada has treated the United States very unfairly for decades. Now, things are turning around for the U.S.A., and FAST! But imagine, Canada is building a massive bridge between Ontario and Michigan. They own both the Canada and the United States side and, of course, built it with virtually no U.S. content. President Barack Hussein Obama stupidly gave them a waiver so they could get around the BUY AMERICAN Act, and not use any American products, including our Steel. Now, the Canadian Government expects me, as President of the United States, to PERMIT them to just "take advantage of America!" What does the United States of America get — Absolutely NOTHING! Ontario won't even put U.S. spirits, beverages, and other alcoholic products, on their shelves, they are absolutely prohibited from doing so and now, on top of everything else, Prime Minister Carney wants to make a deal with China — which will eat Canada alive. We'll just get the leftovers! I don't think so. The first thing China will do is terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate The Stanley Cup. The Tariffs Canada charges us for our Dairy products have, for many years, been unacceptable, putting our Farmers at great financial risk. I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve. We will start negotiations, IMMEDIATELY. With all that we have given them, we should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset. The revenues generated because of the U.S. Market will be astronomical. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP"

The Chinese will stop Hockey!! 😳😱

I know Trump does live in your head 24/7. 😏

Is this real 35th?

Actually Yes. That is from Truth Social. He is attempting to use the opening of the bridge as a potential negotiating ploy. Why? Better trade deals and in response to the Canada/China negotiations. The rest is just Trump hyperbole and media spins.

Eventually this too will pass. Just like the occupation of Greenland. 😉

@Tortorella, yes it's real as is the Truth Social post.

First, the background. The Detroit-Windsor route is the busiest crossing point between Canada and the US and needs its capacity expanded. After years of negotiation, Canada agreed to pay for the bridge (actually financed with bonds back by the CA government). In order to allow the use of Canadian steel a waiver was needed for the Buy US policy. The bridge uses both US and Canadian steel and was built by both US and CA workers. The bridge will be jointly owned by the State of Michigan and the Government of Canada. Initially the tolls will be collect in order to pay the interest and principle of the bonds, which is normal practice. After that the tolls will be split with the State of Michigan.

I smelled a rat immediately, because the Moroun family owns the competing Ambassador bridge and, of course, benefit from the tolls. They have tried multiple times and ways to block the new bridge because, well, it's competition. They approached Trump in his first term and he ignored them. The Moroun's are donors to Trump/Republicans. So, it looked suspicious. The NYT reported that Matthew Moroun met with Howard Lutnick and the Trump post came out 4 hours later.

It's a shakedown for a share of the tolls despite a binding agreement in place. Up here most people are just shrugging – except for social media posters looking for clicks. This too shall pass. We've lived without the bridge for years and what's a few more, eh?

Of course, bridge, Trump and trolling are a boon to cartoonists. So, that's a plus, but a cheap one.

ETA: Note to the White House Press Secretary: Ask your boss for time off to rest and recuperate. Canada does not own land on the US side. Yes, Canada will control traffic on the bridge – as will the US. It's called customs and border control, innit?

Check US news media reports. Detroit news outlets of all sources are the best – as one would expect. Others are accurate and most provide background info. Fox News reported (Louis Casiano) accurately reported the Truth Social post but provided no background links except to old news about CA-US irritations. So, economical with the truth???

Shadoe01,

Yes, more angles. Probably a combination of all things.

Lest we forget -- China's long term plan with Australia is to reduce it to a Chinese client state. That's why their influence map of the South Pacific looks like this – flags represent CCP focus on influence capture (Belt & Road, direct investment, etc), Anchors represent where China is engaged in ports and airport infrastructure projects.

Grattan54 

I don't see where anyone in this discussion was telling Australia what to do. What has been discussed here is a fact. China is interested in sovereignty over Asia. The US, along with NATO and the EU, are concerned with this. Nor is Australia telling anyone to bud out and leave them alone. Your point is confusing.

Chinese Espionage, Cuba, and the Panama Canal

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Armand

Honestly, those charts don't show America being "isolated" so much as they show what was already there once the pressure got turned up. When you start pushing on defense spending, trade reciprocity, and dependence on China, people react — and those reactions tell you a lot. Some partners lean in and adjust like Japan, Poland and Italy. Others hedge. Others still jump ship and look for alternatives – like all too many EU leaders and Carney of Canada who are the ones talking about isolating the US and sucking up to China, the most brutal and repressive regime on the planet. That's not abandonment; that's a stress test. If an alliance starts wobbling the moment you ask for balanced commitments, maybe it wasn't as solid as everyone pretended. This isn't the U.S. walking off the stage. It's Washington forcing clarity — and clarity has a way of exposing who was truly aligned all along.

Better know this now so if the missiles start flying we know who we can really depend on.

SB,

Good points, but I don't know. We had a number of nations who came to our defense after 911 and stood with us in both gulf wars. I don't know if they would now. The tariffs, the threat to take Greenland, his use of possible tariffs as a form of revenge or blackmail and his general unstable approach to foreign policy has caused many good allies to back away. They don't trust the US as they once did. Just blaming it on them isn't the answer.

trade reciprocity

As when one side of a free trade agreement slaps tariffs on the other country's imports to the US, yet demands that their exports continue to be tariff free- or they'll hike the tariffs on our exports to the US even more?

That "reciprocity"?

It's not enough to make the PRC look good, but I'm sure Himself will keep trying to make it so. Trying to Greenland the three US bases here should do the trick.

They don't trust the US as they once did. Just blaming it on them isn't the answer.

It's a two way street, Trump signalled nicely that we need to restructure our relationships and then he had to do it the hard way. For example, the US spent $12 USD Trillion on just European defense since the end of the Cold War, while combined European defense spending was only around $8 USD Trillion. We can't pay more for Europe's defense than they do while also facing European protectionism. That's not sustainable.

As for Australia, they are trying to walk a line — tight security alliance with the U.S., deep trade exposure to China. Fair enough. But let's not pretend Beijing's a benign partner. Remember the Darwin Port lease? Or when China hit Australian barley, wine, coal, and beef with punitive tariffs the moment Canberra pushed back politically? That was economic coercion, not free trade.

Meanwhile, under AUSFTA, most U.S.–Australia trade is still 0% tariffs both ways. The friction people point to comes from narrow, global national-security measures like steel and aluminum — not a country-specific trade war.

If Washington is pushing for closer economic alignment with security commitments, it's not about making China "look good." It's about reducing dependence on a partner that has already shown it will weaponize trade when it suits them.

Australia trade is still 0% tariffs both ways
The friction people point to comes from narrow, global national-security measures like steel and aluminum — not a country-specific trade war.

Fiction.

Facts: basic 10% tariff on Australian goods. Plus (see link ):

Effective 9 April 2025, most goods originating in Australia are subject to a 10 per cent ‘reciprocal' tariff on import into the US. Some goods are subject to a higher tariff rate, while others are exempt.

Steel and aluminium and certain derivative products are subject to a 50 per cent tariff.

Automobiles, trucks and truck parts are subject to a 25 per cent tariff.

Certain copper and copper-containing products are subject to a 50 per tariff.

Certain upholstered wooden products, kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities are subject to a 25 per cent tariff. (Are kitchen cabinets vital to global national-security measures?)

Softwood timber and lumber is subject to a 10 per cent tariff rate.

Certain advanced computing chips and products are subject to a 25 per cent tariff. Imports used for certain purposes are exempt from the tariff.

The US pays no tariffs for exports to Australia under the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA link ). (That act should be repealed, except that the gutless pollies and retail conglomerates- who care only about profits- won't take that step.)

Very "reciprocal". And let's not forget those sneaky, tariff-dodging penguins on Heard Island….

You're right, I was using outdated info — most Australian exports to the U.S. face a 10% baseline tariff, with higher sector rates on steel/aluminum, autos, copper and some manufactured goods. That's a shift from the old AUSFTA 0% norm, and Australia has pushed for removal — but no rollback deal exists yet.

That said, this isn't an Australia-only trade war. The tariffs sit inside a broader U.S. industrial/national-security framework applied across multiple countries. The goal isn't to punish Australia — it's to treat trade as a strategic tool. They only make sense if paired with deeper U.S.–Australia integration in critical minerals, defense production, and tech supply chains. Hopefully we'll see talks to change the status. Oh, and the Heard Island thing was caused by China-linked shippers using Heard Island as point of origin declaration on paperwork to bypass US restriction and tariffs. Nothing ever shipped to or from the island, it was all digital trickery so the US closed that loophole.

OVI +1

SBm +1

Gratten +1

We had a number of nations who came to our defense after 911 and stood with us in both gulf wars.

Yes, regardless of being part of the NATO Charter, i.e. Art.5. The ANZACS not being in NATO still showed up. They generally do.

Plus many of those nations had problems with islamic terrorist, jihadis, militant fanatical islam, etc. in their own nation.

With 9/11, even the two Gulf Wars and A'stan, many showed up. As they may have remembered the US getting decisively involved in WWI and WWII. No matter, they knew that the US in many cases steps in to help. With men and/or material …

Oh, and the Heard Island thing was caused by China-linked shippers using Heard Island as point of origin declaration on paperwork to bypass US restriction and tariffs.

NEVER underestimate the sneakiness and cunning of penguins! The cute look and silly waddle are camouflage for ruthless hunters.

That said, this isn't an Australia-only trade war.

I know that. The US has managed to pea off lots of former allies and trade partners with the new tariffs.

I was using outdated info

These days what the US government said a couple of hours ago can suddenly become outdated info.

Not exactly Dal, the US government has been approaching one man rule, where the scores can change hourly, but people are starting to ask a lot of questions about what the plan ahead is. Clarity may not be the right word SB. The chaotic approach does tend to bring new alignments and can shine a light on stagnant policies. But it does not necessarily light up the future. We are no longer believed or trusted. Somebody is going to need to fix that.

It was always the case that we stood with our allies to fight tyranny and aggression, and fighting them wherever we had to was what we did. Fight there so we don't have to here was a thing. Some of that is happening, but who knows where we are headed? My guess is nobody…

NEVER underestimate the sneakiness and cunning of penguins! The cute look and silly waddle are camouflage for ruthless hunters.

Especially if they are Chicom, Russian and/or Iranian penguins …

These days what the US government said a couple of hours ago can suddenly become outdated info.

Information, intel, etc. is not only perishable, but with high tech commo things can change very quickly …

the US government has been approaching one man rule, where the scores can change hourly, but people are starting to ask a lot of questions about what the plan ahead is.

Disagree … it is moving towards a 1 Party rule. A POTUS and party that shutdown open borders, which was the last POTUS and his party, etc. illegally allowed, sanctioned, supported, etc. Not allowing LEOs on many levels to do their jobs. The former gov't sanctioned invasion was unconstitutional. This invasion will be a problem for the USA for many years in the future.

"Beyond tariffs, Australia applies several taxes, administrative fees, and regulatory requirements that increase the landing cost of U.S. goods. While the AUSFTA eliminates most customs duties, U.S. exporters still face the following costs:

1. Mandatory Taxes
Goods and Services Tax (GST): A 10% tax applies to nearly all U.S. goods entering Australia. For goods valued over AUD 1,000, GST is calculated on the "taxable importation value," which includes the customs value plus shipping, insurance, and any other taxes.

Luxury Car Tax (LCT): U.S. vehicles exceeding specific price thresholds (currently $91,387 USD for fuel-efficient and $80,567 USD for others) incur a 33% tax on the value above the threshold.

Specialized Taxes: Specific products may trigger additional levies, such as the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) for alcohol or excise duties for tobacco and fuel.

2. Administrative Fees
Import Processing Charge (IPC): Shipments valued over AUD 1,000 require a formal import declaration, which attracts a flat fee ranging from AUD 50 to AUD 1,050 per consignment.

Customs Brokerage Fees: Most commercial importers use a broker to file documentation, adding professional service fees to the total cost.

3. Regulatory and Compliance Costs
Biosecurity & Quarantine Fees: Australia has strict biosecurity laws. Goods, particularly food and agricultural products, may require risk assessments, permits, and physical inspections, all of which carry associated fees.
Note: In July 2025, Australia relaxed certain biosecurity curbs on U.S. beef to ease trade tensions.

Labeling and Standards: U.S. products must comply with Australian-specific standards, such as metric-only measurements and nutritional panels on food. New 2026 regulations mandate specific labeling for infant products, including the name of the Australian importer/distributor on the package.

Packaging Treatment: All wood packing material (like pallets) must be treated and marked according to international standards to prevent parasite introduction."

….

"Australia has strict biosecurity and import laws, prohibiting US products that threaten agricultural safety, safety, or security. Key banned items include fresh fruits, vegetables, uncooked meats, eggs, dairy, soil, untreated wood, certain seeds, weapons (including knives, stun guns, and pepper spray), airsoft/imitation guns, and most hazardous goods.

Commonly Restricted or Prohibited Items:
Biosecurity Risks (Agricultural Products): Fresh/frozen fruit and vegetables, raw/cooked meat (including jerky), eggs and dairy products, seeds, and soil.

Weapons & Defense Goods: All firearms, weapons, and dangerous goods are strictly prohibited. This includes knives (daggers, switchblades), pepper spray, stun guns, batons, and even airsoft/paintball guns."

the US government has been approaching one man rule

That's the wet dream of pollies everywhere, Tort, especially those with certain personality traits (eg inversely proportional ego and ethics). He's not my problem, it's his sock puppets and perpetual critics who annoy me. They wouldn't be able to do algebra because they always only see one side of any equation.

35th, have you checked to see whether the US does the same? The answers may be interesting:

1. GST applies to all imports. It also applies to any other goods and services that are purchased (black markets excepted). The US also has sales taxes, transaction taxes, etc, which are separate to and additional to the new tariffs. These are applied to imports at the point of sale, aren't they (just as GST is)?

Or are imported goods sold tax free in the US? I doubt they are.

2. You mean just like the US' Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF), Federal Excise Tax (FET) and the Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF) for shipped cargo? See link . You have lots of little charges (debt by a thousand cuts?), we have fewer, albeit larger, charges.

3. The other side of the beef issue is that the US exporters were not going to send US beef, which can be vetted as disease free, but dumping Mexican (which cannot/would not be vetted as disease free) and Canadian beef (where there are BSE issues).

The main issue, though, that we are free of Foot and Mouth, Rabies, Anthrax, BSE, CSF (swine fever), etc (see link ) and bloody well want to stay that way. Until 2022 we were Varroa Mite free, too. Whether it was apiarists smuggling in "new blood" for their hives, or a deliberate release of infected bees, is not known (that I know of).

I'm quite happy with our biosecurity laws. If someone's stupid enough to break them by trying to smuggle in pets or produce- eg J Depp and A Head- then they deserve what they get and, hopefully, won't come back. If big corporations don't want to spend the money to ensure their produce meets our entry requirements then they can flock off and dump it elsewhere.

As a reason for hitting Australia with tariffs it's another piss-poor excuse- especially when the US has their own, equally strict, biosecurity laws.

Hopefully Uncle Donnie will send you a nice pressie for defending his "reciprocal tariffs", mate.

PS There's a reason for wanting imported manufactured items to meet certain standards. Probably the same reasons the American National Standards Institute use to justify their restrictions and rules.

Dal

the purpose was to show, there are additional costs incurred other than tariffs for U.S. imports to Australia. I'm Not defending the tariffs, nor am I attacking them. They are what they are and don't bother me either way. He should have picked and chosen some to exempt from tariffs and they are currently being modified.

Example, coffee, which we produce almost none of:

"In late 2025, the U.S. government implemented and subsequently removed significant tariffs on coffee, affecting major suppliers like Brazil (up to 50% at peak), Vietnam (20%), and Indonesia (19%). While these 2025 tariffs caused temporary price spikes and supply chain disruption, they were largely rescinded by November 2025 to provide relief to U.S. consumers, although high global prices persist due to climate-related crop reductions."

Yes, I did check and the additional fees into the US from Aus seemed minimal and not standard set fees from the federal government.

"Following the suspension of the de minimis exemption on August 29, 2025, almost all shipments, including low-value, courier, and postal items, are subject to mandatory duty, tax, and handling charges.

Key Additional Fees and Charges:
Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF): A fee for processing formal (valued over $2,500 USD) and informal entries.

Formal Entries: 0.3464% of the cargo value, with a minimum of $33.58 USD and a maximum of $651.50 USD (for FY2026).

Informal Entries: A set fee ranging from $2.69 USD to $12.09 USD per shipment depending on processing method.

Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF): For goods arriving via ocean freight, a fee of 0.125% of the cargo value is charged.

Customs Brokerage/Handling Fees: Private carriers (UPS, DHL, FedEx) and postal services charge fees to handle the increased administrative requirements, especially for clearing the new 10% tariff. These can be significant, particularly with the removal of the $800 USD de minimis threshold.

Specific Duty/Flat Rate Fees: Due to the removal of the $800 USD de minimis threshold, low-value parcels (previously duty-free) now face either a 10% ad valorem duty or a specific duty of $80 USD-$200 per item, depending on the IEEPA rate applicable."

Until 2025 there were significant restrictions on US beef imports to AU. Possibly, tariff negotiations helped to change that, but doubt it would change beef sales in AU. So probably pointless really.

OK, mate, I see what you were doing (I think). One of the problems with boards like these is there's no emotion/facial expressions to allow full understanding of the bare text.

Our GST, biosecurity, harbour and other charges/requirements are neither unique nor aimed at any particular country, they're costs every country/company has to face when doing business with Oz (except drug, tobacco and other smugglers). Basically a money rake for an always money-hungry government. From what I found in a (quick) search, similar excises/fees/customs/imposts exist in every country. And after all those costs, and any tariffs, someone will whack GST/VAT/Sales Tax on top. Someone, somewhere, is making a motza from all that money-sticky red tape.

Dal, I'm saying there is more involved than just tariffs. Obviously I was just showing monetary costs involved. I skipped, military and politics completely.

Yes, mate, there are a lot of other issues involved*. However, the reasons given for the US breaking the Free Trade Agreement were either false or were accepted practice around the world. None of the Australian laws and restrictions targetted the US in particular, despite what your POTUS said. Ending the FTA is fair enough- if the FTA doesn't suit the US' purposes then they have every right to end it. What peeves me is that the US government also threatened punitive measures if we retaliated against their not-so-reciprocal tariffs. You do that to subject nations, not allies. We are not, and hopefully never will be, a subject nation again.

Bloody unlikely I'll get that wish, though, the way the world's going.

I'll be blunt- between his punitive, not reciprocal, tariffs and his dismissal of the US' allies' efforts in Afghanistan, Iraq, etc, I'm no longer on the fence about your POTUS. Unlike most on the board, though, I'm not interested in discussing what his motives are, nor even thinking about him. Problem belongum Merica.

*I'm still waiting for AUKUS to be wound up and the sub deal scuttled, because we want to "steal jobs" by building eight of the subs here. Or Pine Gap and/or NW Cape being Greenlanded for "Strategic Reasons".

So let's leave it there while we're still mates, shall we?

Xi Jinping's private army

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Armand

Australia is being given the rights to purchase 3 existing Virginia Class subs, 2 Block 4 and 1 block 7. Two, somewhat newer, additional Virginia class may be purchased if Australia and the UK fall behind in planning/building their SSN-A/AUKUS units.

This is all happening in the 2030s, long after 47 is out of office.

Virginia production needs to hit two units, per annum, to meet US needs and commitments. Under 46, production was one unit annually. 47 has pushed production to 1.25 per annum and is pushing for further increases in production.

So, what jobs are you stealing? Australia is not building Virginia SSNs, you are building your 5 SSN-As

So, what jobs are you stealing?

My guess- the jobs that could be used to build the eight subs that are being built here. It's an emotional appeal and a pressure point in any future discussions.

You know a lot more about the plan than me, it seems. So Oz is going to have a small submarine fleet, albeit one with at least two different classes of sub? Why is that not surprising?

China is mapping the ocean floor as it prepares for submarine warfare with the U.S.

"Dozens of Chinese research vessels are on a quest to map the sea floor at strategically vital regions of the world's oceans. Some of the surveying is for mineral deposits and fishing grounds, but the data the ships collect has a military application. It gives Beijing a detailed picture of the maritime environment in which submarine battles will be waged if conflict erupts, naval experts say.

China is conducting a vast undersea mapping and monitoring operation across the Pacific, Indian and Arctic oceans, building detailed knowledge of marine conditions that naval experts say would be crucial for waging submarine warfare against the United States and its allies.
In one example, the Dong Fang Hong 3, a research vessel operated by Ocean University of China, spent 2024 and 2025 sailing back and forth in the seas near Taiwan and the U.S. stronghold of Guam, and around strategic stretches of the Indian Ocean, ship-tracking data reviewed by Reuters shows. In October 2024, it checked on a set of powerful Chinese ocean sensors capable of identifying undersea objects near Japan, according to Ocean University, and visited the same area again last May. And in March 2025, it criss-crossed the waters between Sri Lanka and Indonesia, covering approaches to the Malacca Strait, a critical chokepoint for maritime commerce…"

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Armand

China's Quiet Gains during U.S.-Israel War on Iran

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Armand

How China Dominates the World's Critical Minerals Production

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Armand