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Rio Tinto today warned the new resources tax announced by the Federal Government could erode Australia’s competitiveness, severely curtail investment and limit jobs growth. Rio managing director Australia David Peever said the final design and implementation of the additional resources tax was crucial to ensuring unintended consequences didn’t filter through to other sectors of the national economy.

Ratings agency Fitch says the federal government’s suggested mining super profits tax won’t trigger a downgrade for resource giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. ‘’Fitch doesn’t anticipate any downgrades solely as a result of the potential implementation of this new tax'’ said Fitch corporate ratings senior director Julian Crush in a statement. Fitch continues to rate BHP ‘’A+/stable'’ and Rio Tinto ‘’A-/stable'’.

“We are concerned about the inclusion of existing operations and the apparently arbitrary way the new resources tax was set at 40 per cent. Taxing 40 per cent of profits over the long-term bond rate, together with corporation tax, would make the Australian minerals sector the highest taxed in the world, seriously eroding competitiveness,” Mr Peever said.

Mr Peever rejected suggestions that the Australian community was not extracting a fair return from the growth in the mining sector, noting the industry already pays more tax than other parts of the economy.

“All Australians benefit from a strong mining sector. In the same way all Australians are affected by measures that hurt the mining sector. Australia was saved from the worst of the GFC by the strength of the resources sector, but the same industry is now being portrayed by the Government as not paying its way.

Rio, like other mining companies, continues to deliver a wide range of local and regional community benefits that are not recognised in the basic taxation statistics. Investments in local infrastructure and agreements made with indigenous communities, for example, are provided on top of mining royalties and company taxes. Riotinto will continue to keep its shareholders and customers informed about issues of concern regarding particular aspects of the Government’s tax proposals, Mr Peever said.

“Rio Tinto is not opposed to tax reform. We support genuine tax reform that protects against sovereign risk, improves the competitiveness of the resources sector as an investment destination and promotes economic growth,” he said.

Analysts also agreed a shift to the US dollar would create further troubles for Australian miners by making their products more expensive on global markets.