Malcolm Turnbull has launched a spirited defence of free trade at a book launch in Parliament House, saying he is “disappointed” with the US for withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and lambasting Bill Shorten for embracing protectionism.

In comments that could be interpreted as being critical of the US president, Donald Trump, Turnbull said political leaders now offering protectionism as “some kind of salvation” were luring citizens into the dead end of poverty.

To flesh out his analogy, he looked to America. “The infamous Smoot-Hawley tariff, introduced in the United States in 1930, as part of a response to the Great Depression, lifted average duties to nearly 50% and encouraged retaliation and it prolonged and worsened the severity of the Depression,” Turnbull said on Wednesday.

“That is very well known and understood. Repeating mistakes like that is a risk that’s been recognised by leaders. So we have a massive vested interest in maintaining open markets.”

Turnbull made the comments at the launch of a new book on trade from the Liberal party’s official thinktank, the Menzies Research Centre.

US media outlets have been replete with references to the Smoot-Hawley tariff in the past year as Trump has signalled he may embark on a trade war with China – posturing that has rattled other world leaders.

Turnbull used his speech on Wednesday to argue the benefits of trade liberalisation and open markets. “Our job as the government is to hold open the door for Australian businesses to access these lucrative overseas markets,” the prime minister said. “It means continuing to pursue opportunities for our businesses to benefit from trade and investment in our region and beyond.”



He added: “The protectionist approach which extraordinarily Labor under Shorten has now adopted would rather restrict our markets to 24 million Australians whereas we want to open them up to 7.4 billion people around the world.”

Turnbull said Australia was disappointed the US had junked the TPP – a decision taken by the Trump administration – because it was a regional agreement of unprecedented scope, ambition and opportunity.

“It provided particular opportunities to those services exports and addressed so many of those behind-the-border non-tariff barriers to trade that are now one of the principle objectives as we look at the opportunities to increase access to those big markets,” he said.

“So, we will continue to talk to the other TPP signatories on how we can use the work that is being done to capture the enormous economic and strategic benefits that would have flowed from the completion of the TPP, and of course we’ll continue to engage the United States on our shared interest in a strong and open international trading system.

“And who knows? Perhaps in the future the US will rejoin the conversation at a later stage.”