US President Donald Trump has agreed to consider not slapping with a 25 per cent tariff on steel and aluminium imports, Anthony Albanese said.
‘I presented ‘s case for an exemption and we agreed on wording to say publicly – which is that the US President agreed that an exemption was under consideration in the interests of both of our countries,’ Mr Albanese said.
The Prime Minister, speaking at a press conference on Tuesday morning, added that he also spoke to Mr Trump about about ‘s vast reserves of critical minerals and the country as a source of investment capital.
‘We essentially have the periodic table under our feet in this country and that’s a big plus for going forward, and we are very conscious of the fact that the United States is aware of what we can deliver when it comes to critical minerals,’ he said.
‘Our aluminium is a critical input for manufacturing in the United States [and] our steel and our aluminium are key inputs for the US- defence industries in both of our countries.’
The Prime Minister said he was confident a deal could be made with Mr Trump to secure an exemption from the trade tariffs.
‘If you have a look at what we’ve achieved already, it’s been a tremendous start to the relationship,’ Mr Albanese said.
‘Penny Wong being invited to the inauguration. Richard Marles sitting down with the secretary of defence, Pete Hegseth, just on the weekend.’
Mr Albanese highlighted that his 40 minute call was among Mr Trump’s first with world leaders since his inauguration.
‘We have a USD$2trillion economy here. [Super] funds are looking at international investment as well as investment here in ,’ Mr Albanese said, hinting they could be a source for capital investment in the US.
Mr Albanese posted on X that he had ‘a great conversation with President Donald Trump’ on Tuesday morning.
‘We committed to working constructively together to advance n and American interests, drive economic prosperity and face shared challenges,’ he wrote.
‘For decades, the alliance between the United States and has served the interests of both our nations, and supported peace, stability and growth in our region.
‘I look forward to working closely with President Trump to create jobs and deliver benefits for both our nations.’
Trump announced the tariffs on imported metal would broadly apply without exemptions, during a media conference aboard Air Force One as he was flying to the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
‘Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25 per cent tariff,’ he told reporters on Monday.
A tariff on n goods would be a ‘slap in the face’ for domestic industry and the US-n alliance, Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said.
‘It is now up to the federal government to quickly step in and protect n industry and producers from being caught up in a rapidly escalating global trade war,’ he said on Monday.
In 2018, was granted an exemption from 25 per cent American tariffs on steel and 10 per cent import taxes on aluminum under then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Mr Turnbull had pointed out the US had trade surpluses with – where Aussies bought more goods and services from Americans than they bought from us.
The first face-to-face meeting between Mr Albanese and Mr Trump is set for the Quad leaders summit in India on an unconfirmed date later this year, though the PM said a meeting beforehand wasn’t out of the question.
‘We’ll get together at the Quad or before. But we look forward to having one-on-one discussions as well. But we’ll continue to be in contact.’ Mr Albanese said.