Australia to Scrap 500 More Tariffs in Push to Cut Business Costs

Aug 28, 2025

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Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced Thursday that the Albanese government will abolish 500 more so-called nuisance tariffs, bringing the total to nearly 1,000 scrapped since Labor came to power two years ago.

Chalmers said the move would cut red tape, ease compliance costs for businesses, boost productivity and take pressure off consumer prices.

“This means in total almost 1,000 nuisance tariffs slashed under the life of this Albanese Labor government,” Chalmers told reporters in Canberra. “We are abolishing these nuisance tariffs to help cut red tape, ease the compliance costs on businesses, boost productivity and take some of the pressure off prices as well.”

The government estimates the changes will streamline about $23 billion worth of trade and save Australian businesses roughly $157 million in compliance costs.

Consultation Period Open

A full list of the proposed 500 tariffs has been released on the Treasury website. Chalmers said businesses and stakeholders have until Dec. 10 to provide feedback, with a final decision to be made before the next federal budget.

“These nuisance tariffs often do more harm than good,” he said. “Often we’re talking about very large sums of imports where there is only a tiny sliver of tariff collected, and so it often costs more to comply with the tariff regime than the government raises or benefits for industry.”

Trade Minister’s Support

Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell said the move demonstrated Australia’s commitment to free and fair trade.

“We want countries to remove tariff barriers because the way to greater prosperity for our citizens is through free and fair trade,” Farrell said. “We are prepared to make changes to our tariff system to ensure that we reduce costs for Australian businesses and we reduce costs for Australian consumers.”

Farrell linked the announcement to ongoing trade negotiations with the European Union and India and to the free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates, which came into effect earlier this month.

“We need to send a message to all of those countries around the world that protectionism doesn’t work,” Farrell said. “It actually makes life more expensive for your consumers and you push up unemployment.”

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Broader Reform Push

The tariff cuts follow commitments made at the recent Economic Reform Roundtable, where business and government leaders discussed ways to lift productivity and lower costs.

“This does capitalise on the momentum that was built at the Economic Reform Roundtable,” Chalmers said. “At a time when we are looking for every way we can to reduce compliance costs and reduce input costs for businesses and for consumers, this is a really important step.”

The government previously scrapped nearly 500 nuisance tariffs in 2023, targeting low-revenue import charges that officials said cost more to administer than they raised in revenue.

Chalmers said Thursday’s announcement marked “the second crack” at tariff reform, promising a “meaningful difference” for Australian businesses and households.

Next Steps

The government will review submissions before finalizing which tariffs will be permanently abolished. Officials said the cuts would not affect tariffs that protect significant domestic industries, but would remove levies on a wide range of low-yield goods.

“This is all about making it easier for business,” Chalmers said. “We will make a meaningful difference as a consequence.”

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