Prime Minister urged to face off with Donald Trump on tariffs

Anthony Albanese is being urged to meet with Donald Trump as uncertainty around a potentially devastating move for Australia festers.

Anthony Albanese should meet with Donald Trump to secure an exemption from the US President’s brutal blanket tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, a senior Coalition senator says.

Uncertainty has been festering around a carve out for Australia since Mr Trump inked an executive order slapping 25 per cent levies on foreign steel and aluminium “without exemptions or exceptions”.

He did so shortly after giving the Prime Minister assurances an exemption for Australia was “under consideration”.

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should have ‘been on the first plane over to the United States’ after Donald Trump’s inauguration. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said on Thursday Australia was “very clearly not doing harm to the United States steel or aluminium industries”, but Mr Trump needed to hear that directly.

He said Mr Albanese should take the approach of former Coalition governments and set up a face-to-face meeting, saying “we need in-person access” to Mr Trump.

“I don’t think that’s going to be done, I’m sceptical that’s going to be done over the phone by the Prime Minister,” Senator Paterson told Sky News.

“I don’t understand why unlike other world leaders he hasn’t been on the first plane over to the United States after the inauguration to have that in-person meeting with President Trump to build that rapport.

“That was how the Morrison and Turnbull governments secured good arrangements for Australia on these issues and that is how it will be done if this government is determined to do it as well, but there’s no evidence that the Prime Minister is prioritising this issue.”

‘Killing’ claim rebuffed

Meanwhile, Labor’s trade chief Don Farrell has pushed back against a senior Trump aide’s claim Australia is “killing” the US aluminium industry.

Peter Navarro, who advises Donald Trump on trade, accused Australia of flooding the US aluminium market on Wednesday (AEDT).

Senator Farrell disputed the claim on Thursday morning, saying he was “sure” Australian companies had complied with all their US obligations.

Labor’s trade chief Don Farrell has pushed back against a senior Trump aide’s claim Australia is ‘killing’ the US aluminium industry. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“I don’t believe we’ve done at any stage anything that has not been agreed to by the American government,” the Trade Minister told the ABC.

“I’m sure that we comply with all of the obligations that America imposes on those companies that are supplying into the United States, and that wouldn’t matter whether it was beef or lamb or grain or steel or aluminium, I would be absolutely certain Australian companies comply with all of their obligations in terms of reporting into the United States.”

Australia exported about 83,000 tonnes of aluminium to the US last year, making up some 10 per cent of total aluminium exports to the US.

Most of it ends up on the US West Coast.

But Mr Navarro said the Australian imports were “just killing our aluminium market”.

“President Trump says, ‘No, no, we’re not doing that anymore’,” he told CNN.

Peter Navarro (left) says Australia is flooding the US aluminium market. Picture: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP

“What they do is they just flood our markets after Biden gave them an agreement that said ‘don’t flood our markets, you can have a reasonable amount’.”

He continued: “Our aluminium industry is on its back. It’s at 50 per cent capacity utilisation … in Australia, it’s 90 per cent, and we can’t afford not to have strong aluminium and steel industries.”

The White House has also claimed Canberra violated a “verbal commitment” to voluntarily limit exports made nearly a decade ago.

The Albanese government has said it was not aware of any deal, and members of the former Coalition governments during Mr Trump’s first administration have rejected the claim.

Originally published as Prime Minister urged to face off with Donald Trump on tariffs