Import prices hit a five-year high in just three months due to war in the Middle East, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) says.
And the Business Council of Australia and Australian Chamber of Commerce have hit out at a new 12.5% US tariff imposed on Aussie imports.
The ABS says its June quarter data shows import prices rose 5.7%, and by 6.2% in 12 months, compared to a 0.1% ride for March and 0.9% for the December 2025 quarter.
It says the quarterly price rise was the highest since the December 2021 period.
The head of prices statistics, Rachael McCririck says the US-Iran war is the cause for the price rise.
“The rise in import prices was driven by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which disrupted global supplies of oil, fertiliser and plastics,” she says.
“Prices of petroleum products rose 47.1% for June 2026, the highest quarterly rise since the Import Price Index series began in June 1983.”
Fertilisers (excluding crude) rose by 25.1% and plastics rose by 26.3% for the three months.
EXCEPTION TO IMPORT RISES
Offsetting the rise in import prices was non-monetary gold, which fell by 9.1%, it says.
“Rising fuel prices fuelled global inflation, strengthening the US dollar and raising interest rate expectations,” McCririck says.
“This weighed on demand for gold as investors have shifted towards interest-bearing assets.”
EXPORT PRICES
Export prices rose 1.1% this quarter and 3.9% in the last 12 months, the ABS reports.
Key contributors to that were coal, coke and briquettes (up 5.4%), petroleum (up 22.7%) and Crude fertilisers (up 20.9%).
“Heightened uncertainty surrounding global gas supply increased demand for reliable alternative energy sources, driving up thermal coal prices,” McCririck says.
Offsetting the export price rise was non-monetary gold (down 8.8%), the ABS says.
NEW 12.5% US TARIFF SLAMMED
National business organisations have criticised a US decision to slap a new, and higher, 12.5% tariff on Australian imports.
Business Council of Australia Chief Executive Bran Black says they were “disappointed” by the decision and the justification for it.
He says US Trade Representative Jameison Greer’s rationale that the use of forced labour was the cause for the tariff had failed to identify a single case in Australia.
“The council supports free and open trade, and we see no basis for these new tariffs,” he says.
“This decision will make it harder for Australian businesses to compete and sell their products into the US market, hurting investment and our jobs.”
Black points out that Australia already has a trade deficit with the US with two-way trade worth more $2 trillion.
Australian Chamber of Commer CEO Andrew McKellar calls the decision “strange” and a “pretext”.
“There’s no evidence (of forced labour). It really is a fiction in terms of the justification provided by the US administration,” he says.
“There’s no justification for the decision … the basis on which it’s been put forward really are ludicrous. They’re just not supported by the facts.”
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