Australian PM Albanese gets Prez Trump to consider exemption on tariffs

By Ben Westcott 

President Donald Trump has agreed to consider an exemption for Australia from US tariffs on steel and aluminum following a telephone call with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, even after he initially said there would be no exceptions from the imposts.

 

Albanese briefed reporters on Tuesday in Canberra following his conversation with the president. The prime minister said he had presented Australia’s case and that he and Trump had “agreed on wording” to state publicly that “an exemption was under consideration in the interests of both of our countries.”

 

Albanese, who must hold an election by May 17, has been under intense pressure from local lawmakers and executives to secure tariff exemptions for Australia’s steel and aluminum exports to the US. During Trump’s first term, Canberra undertook months of painstaking negotiations with Washington to avoid similar imposts.

 

 

Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday as he ordered the 25 per cent steel and aluminum tariffs, Trump initially said there would be no exemptions, before adding he would “give consideration” to some possible leeway for Australia.

 

“We have a surplus with Australia, one of the few, they buy a lot of airplanes,” Trump told reporters in Washington. “That’s something that we will give great consideration to.”

 

The call between the president and prime minister was their first since Trump began his second term and came against the backdrop of US preparations to impose tariffs on both goods and countries and trading blocs.

 

Albanese highlighted a key point in Australia’s favor at his press conference.

 

“The US has a trade surplus with Australia that it’s had since the Truman administration. It’s about two-to-one when it comes to trade between our two countries,” he said. “When you look at the imports of these products into the US, it’s about 1 per cent of imports of steel, 2 per cent of aluminium.”

 

Albanese’s government had been working to reaffirm ties with the new US administration. Days after the November election, the prime minister said Trump assured him during a call that the two leaders would enjoy a “perfect friendship.”

 

Since Trump took office, Australia’s foreign and defence ministers have traveled to Washington to hold separate meetings with their counterparts — Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

 

Albanese on Tuesday pointed to the contributions of Australian steel and aluminum exports to the US.

 

“Our steel is an important input for US manufacturing. BlueScope is the US’s fifth-largest steelmaker. They’ve invested A$5 billion in the US across a range of states. I think there’s more than 30 different investments there,” he said.

 

“Our aluminium is a critical input for manufacturing in the United States. Our steel and aluminium are both key inputs for the US-Australia defence industries.”

 

Trump has been ramping up discussions with key Asian allies. He met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the Oval Office on Feb. 7 and is due to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington next week.

 

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said on the weekend that Australia had transferred the first payment of $500 million to the US to improve its industrial capacity as part of the Aukus security agreement. The funds will be used to speed up the production of Virginia class submarines and other naval vessels.

 

Under Aukus, which was agreed to by former President Joe Biden in September 2021, the US and the UK will work with Australia to provide Canberra with a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines. The deal is widely seen as a move to strengthen security ties between the Western partners in the face of growing strategic competition from China.