ACCI chief executive officer Andrew McKellar interview on Bloomberg TV
Transcript: 24 February 2026
Haidi Stroud-Watts:
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry says that while the US Supreme Court decision was expected, many businesses may still be caught out by the renewed uncertainty. Joining us now is the ACCI ceo, Andrew McKellar. Andrew, great to have you back again here on Bloomberg. What are you hearing from and also communicating to your membership at the moment?
Andrew McKellar:
Haidi, great to be with you. Obviously it is a period of uncertainty. This wasn't an entirely unexpected decision. I guess it's been one of the contingencies that has been very much factored in the US government's reaction. Equally, it's not entirely surprising. We didn't expect that they would walk away from their tariff policy, the level at which it's got to be set and how that's applied now, obviously that does create uncertainty. Look, our advice to our members is to take this one step at a time. Obviously they've got to look closely at their contract terms and provisions now and in particular the payment terms. So we're urging them to go and talk to their trade advisors, talk to your state or territory Chamber of Commerce, and certainly look very closely at those contract terms and provisions so that we can understand how any change from here in tariff administration is going to impact. We are working closely with government, we're getting good advice from them. Their approach the whole way along has been very measured, obviously taking this one step at a time and playing the long game. So I think that's really the approach that we're seeking to implement with our members.
Haidi Stroud-Watts:
In terms of sectors and certain parts of the business community that are harder hit or perhaps that might benefit with a diversification of trading partners. What are you seeing at the moment?
Andrew McKellar:
Diversification is the key word. So we are certainly seeing that as a key area of focus across business we did our annual trade survey late last year and we found that, I think it was 53 per cent of exporters said that they had opened up or were actively looking at new markets to go into. In particular, that was areas like India, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Indonesia. These were economies that were at the top of the list. More broadly though, Australian companies are looking at diversification opportunities around the world. We're working closely with government on that. I was just mentioning only a few weeks ago I was with Trade Minister Don Farrell in Saudi Arabia in the UAE and Australia has just recently signed a new comprehensive economic partnership agreement with the UAE. So there's huge opportunities there. I think one of the other areas that we're currently negotiating with is of course the EU and our members would be in favour of getting a good outcome on negotiations there. So there are opportunities for diversification and certainly business in Australia is very much looking at those opportunities as a positive chance to grow trade.
Haidi Stroud-Watts:
And do we know the trade minister headed to California to support this sort of flagship economic and cultural diplomacy programme - G'day Australia. I do wonder, it's interesting we're talking about the sort of steady levelheaded, even toned approach that the government has been taking. What would you like to see in terms of deliverables and perhaps the approach this time around, given that we've now seen the sort of reversal of fortunes,
Andrew McKellar:
It's been the correct approach, it's been very much a 'Team Australia' approach. Only yesterday morning, very quickly in response to the developments over the weekend, we had a briefing with Ambassador Rudd and the team from DFAT. So they're taking careful stock of what this decision means and what the administration's response means. So, I think one step at a time, we shouldn't panic. Australian exporters to the US will still be in about as good a position as they can be because this tariff will be additive. So we still get the benefits of the free trade agreement that we've had for many years. Of course, there will be some additional expenses and impost as a result of the changes that the administration is making. But I think there are exemptions there. We've seen products like beef actually growing the value of their exports. So given market circumstances, the Americans still need our high quality beef and there are exemptions there covering products like that because the administration is very concerned not to exacerbate pressure on things like food prices.
Haidi Stroud-Watts:
Andrew, great to have you as always, Andrew McKellar, who's the ceo of the Australian Chamber of Commerce.