PM hopeful of Donald Trump meet, vows to talk tariffs

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PM hopeful of Donald Trump meet, vows to talk tariffs

Anthony Albanese has vowed to talk tariffs with Donald Trump when they meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada later this month.

NewsWire understands the details of the leaders’ first face-to-face have not been set but both sides expect them to meet.

The Prime Minister said on Tuesday he “certainly will” raise Australia’s inclusion in sweeping tariffs.

“This is an act of economic self-harm, and it’s not the act of a friend, and this just pushes up prices for American purchasers and consumers,” Mr Albanese told the ABC.

Australia was included in the Trump administration’s blanket 25 per cent tariffs on foreign steel and aluminium in March.

The US President had promised a Canberra carve out was “under consideration”.

Australia was also hit with 10 per cent levies on most goods as part of Mr Trump’s “Liberation Day” imposts.

Asked what it was like to deal with Mr Trump’s unpredictability, Mr Albanese said being “consistent and clear and unambiguous” was key.

“I’ve had three really constructive discussions with President Trump, but it’s important that you don’t jump around and take different positions from day to day,” he said.

“That’s what my government is ensuring that we do.

“We do have a clear, consistent position on wanting free and fair trade.

“We do have a position which is to support the US (free trade agreement).

“We continually remind our American friends that America enjoys the benefit of a trade surplus with Australia, which is why it makes no sense to undermine trade between Australia and the United States.”

Camera IconMr Albanese says being ‘consistent and clear and unambiguous’ is key to dealing with Mr Trump. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia

Mr Albanese also pushed back against Washington’s demand for Canberra to lift defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP.

Australia’s military budget came up during a bilateral meeting between Defence Minister Richard Marles and his US defence counterpart Pete Hegseth over the weekend.

In a read out, the US Embassy said the two senior officials “discussed aligning investment to the security environment in the Indo-Pacific, accelerating US force posture initiatives in Australia, advancing defence industrial base co-operation, and creating supply chain resilience”.

“On defence spending, Secretary Hegseth conveyed that Australia should increase its defence spending to 3.5 per cent of its GDP as soon as possible,” the embassy said.

Mr Albanese said Australia was “a sovereign nation” and would decide its own spending commitments.

“We are implementing an increase in our defence expenditure, more than $10bn over the forward estimates, more than $50bn over the medium term,” he said.

“We want to provide Australia with the capability that we need.”

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