As the world deals with the turmoil of Trumps erratic tariffs, the latest data shows Australia is among the winners on exports, asAlan Austinreports.

CALENDAR 2024 was another challenging year for major exporting nations. Low global economic growth, lingering tariffs imposed duringDonald Trumps disastrous first presidency, supply chain disruptions due to wars and high transport costs all took a toll.

Only two of the 35 wealthy countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) who reported last years exports to theWorld Bankincreased exports relative to gross domestic product (GDP) over 2022. They were Ireland and Sweden.

Australiasexportsof goods in 2024-25 continued last years gradual decline from the 2022-23 peak, but remained above $500 billion for the fourth straight year. So not too shabby.

Fortunately, Australia also exports substantial volumes and values ofservicesas well as goods. These include secondary and tertiary education, travel services, professional and management consulting, and intellectual property. Curiously, these are not recorded by the Bureau of Statistics (ABS) each month as are exports ofgoods.

Alan Austin has contributed to the Albanese Governments Economic Reform Roundtable. This is the text, slightly edited and with extra graphs.

World Bank ranks Australia highly

The World Banksdevelopment indicatorsshow recent export and import outcomes for 177 economies, including all OECD members. Not one of those 35 advanced economies has succeeded in expanding its exports of goods and services every year over the past five years. Most went backwards in 2020 during the COVID downturn. The three exceptions to this Ireland, Luxembourg and Lithuania all copped a setback in 2023, which is somewhat strange.

Australias experience was aberrant in that exports declined for three straight years, 2020 to 2022 the only OECD member to do so. Since records began in 1975, the only other negative years have been 1981 and 2002, also duringCoalitionperiods.

In the latest two years on record, only three developed economies experienced positive growth above 10%. They are Denmark, Costa Rica and Australia.

Eleven economies enjoyed relatively sound expansion between 5-10%, seven grew less than that, while 14 went backwards. So these are difficult times. See chart below.

(Data source:World Bank)

Australias third ranking in the OECD on export growth in 2024 contrasts with ranking 17th out of those 35 members under the Coalition in 2017, 18th in 2018 and last in 2021.

All export data over time, both within Australia and relative to the rest of the world, confirm the consistentfindingsof the alternative media, denied by the mainstream newsrooms, that Labor manages the economy vastly better than does the Coalition.

Labors progress in trade treaties

TheAlbaneseGovernment succeeded in its first term in normalising diplomatic and trade relations with the European Union, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, the Solomon Islands and other neighbours following rifts caused by the ineptMorrisonCoalition.

Australia has now finalised mutually-beneficial trade deals with theUnited Kingdom,India,Thailand,New Zealandand theUnited Arab Emirates, and has strengthened trade alliances elsewhere.

Negotiations are currently well underway for improved trade treaties with the European Union, Canada, Peru, South Korea and Gulf States Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

These are all the more critical now that the USA has severely disrupted the established global trade order.

Impact of Trumps destructive tariffs

The irrational decisions of the corrupt and increasingly mentally deranged U.S. President are impacting the world in an erratic manner.

So far, Australia appears to have benefited. An illustrative example is Brazil, Australias principal competitor in supplying beef to the USA. Brazil has copped a punitive 50% Trump tariff on beef, based on Trumps personal bitterness towards the current reformistLula da SilvaGovernment for allowing his buddy, former PresidentJair Bolsonaro, to be tried in open court for corruption. That gives Australia a huge advantage.

The latest tradereportfrom the ABS, with data to the end of June, confirms Australias exports are now rapidly expanding worldwide.

The latest statistics confirm the U.S. economy is entering the rapid deterioration phase.

Major trading partners that bought exports 50% or more higher in 2024-25 than the value in 2018-19, pre-COVID, include Switzerland, Turkiye, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Bahrain, Peru, Vietnam and Oman.

Partners that ordered exports more than double 2018-19 include the USA, Indonesia, Mexico, Portugal, Belgium, Brunei and Bangladesh.

Countries buying exports three times higher are Pakistan, Finland and Kenya.

Media attacks proving unfounded

Australias craven mainstream newsrooms have been running two lines of criticism of Australias stance towards the USA since Trumps inauguration last January. The first is that Prime Minister Albanese hasfailedto secure a face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump to press Australias case on tariff rates.

The second is that former Prime MinisterKevin Ruddis aliabilityin his role as Ambassador to the U.S. because of his past sharp criticisms of Trumps character, his authoritarianism, divisive rhetoric and climate change denial.

Pointedly, given Rudds expertise in Asian affairs and fluency in Mandarin, Rudd has also strongly condemned Trumps confrontational stance towards China.

Neither appears vindicated. The Governments approach to dealing with Trumps tariff threats which Australias quiet achiever, Trade MinisterDon Farrell,describesas cool, calm diplomacy is working. Australia has secured the minimum tariff level of 10%. Americas only significant trading partner, better placed with 0%, isRussia, whose President now effectively dictates U.S. economic policy.

Australia achieved that low rate despite no meeting, despite Rudd still the top envoy and without having seduced Trump with anominationfor the Nobel Peace Prize or a free personalluxury jetor other bribes which are now brazenlytransacted.

While the full effects of Trumps tariffs remain unknown, Australians can look ahead with reasonably well-founded optimism.

Alan Austinis an Independent Australia columnist and freelance journalist. You can follow him@alanaustin001.