Last week after Donald Trump announced his idiotic tariffs – that were so ill-thought out that he levied a tariff on penguins, Norfolk Island and a US army base in the Indian Ocean  – we called for the RBA to reconvene and cut rates.

It was clear last Tuesday that the Reserve Bank was paralysed by the tariff announcement that was due to come out the next day. The RBA should have delayed their board meeting until after the announcement by Trump. Every economist knew that these tariffs would be unprecedented, but instead the RBA decided to carry on as usual and as a result did nothing except come up with excuses not to cut rates.

Now the markets and economists are clear – the RBA will cut rates in May, and because of the tariffs will likely have to cut rates by more than previously expected over the next 6 months.

We continue to call for the RBA to reconvene. There is no reason to wait till the end of May, there is no reason to just sit by and watch the world’s economy falter. Monetary policy should be nimble, and the RBA should show leadership by cutting rates before Australians suffer from the damage of Trump.