Anthony Albanese has pushed back against the Trump administration’s higher steel tariffs and pressure on Australia to spend more on defence, setting up a testing first face-to-face meeting between the prime minister and US president at the G7 in a fortnight.

Albanese declared on Sunday that the US was committing an economic “act of self-harm” by increasing prices for American consumers, after Trump shocked allies and partners by doubling tariffs on foreign steel and aluminium sold in the United States to 50 per cent.