‘Not on my watch’: Albanese says key US trade grievances are not negotiable

Washington: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has declared key issues in trade talks with the United States are “not up for negotiation” after the US trade office added to its list of grievances with Australia just days before the Trump administration unveils a new tranche of tariffs.

The 2025 report on foreign trade barriers, released by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) details several unresolved trade issues with Australia, including the prohibition of imported uncooked American beef, pork and poultry products, as well as apples and pears.

Trump has Australia in his sights.Credit: Bloomberg

It also renews concerns about Labor’s plan to impose local content requirements on streaming services such as Netflix under the National Cultural Policy, as well as a long-standing grievance about issues to do with patents and drug marketing.

The latest report adds a new grievance about the News Media Bargaining Code introduced by the Coalition in 2021. The code compelled digital platforms and social media companies such as Google and Meta (which owns Facebook and Instagram) to pay news organisations for content used on those platforms.

The American update also took stock of the Albanese government’s December 2024 announcement that large tech firms would be forced to enter into agreements with news companies or face higher taxes under a scheme called the news bargaining incentive.

Credit: Matt Golding

“The government announced its intent to tighten the rules surrounding the Bargaining Code, including by introducing a financial penalty for designated platforms that do not reach or renew commercial agreements,” the USTR report said.

In February, this masthead revealed the Albanese government was hitting the pause button on that scheme to stave off retaliation from the Trump administration, given that it would likely be seen as punishing American tech companies.

The USTR report did not mention a go-slow or pause on the initiative. “The United States continues to monitor this issue,” it said.

Campaigning in South Australia, Albanese said three of the major concerns raised in the latest US trade report – the news bargaining code, biosecurity and pharmaceuticals – were “not up for negotiation from the Australian government”.

“We will defend Australia’s interests,” he said. “The idea that we would weaken biosecurity laws is, as my mum would say, cutting off your nose to spite your face.

“In order to defend the exports that total less than 5 per cent of Australia’s exports, you undermine our biosecurity system? Not on my watch.”

“Not on my watch”: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would defend Australian interests in trade negotations.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Pressed by reporters on his previous remarks about Trump and his plans for another direct call with the US president, Albanese avoided answering the questions directly but repeated: “I’ve very clearly indicated Australia is not negotiating over the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. We’re not negotiating over the News Bargaining Code [and] we won’t undermine our biosecurity.”

Trade discussions between Australia and the US were ongoing, Albanese said, including the other issues raised in the latest USTR report.

The renewal of US grievances with Australia comes as the Trump administration prepares to announce a new tranche of tariffs on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) at a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden headed by Trump and cabinet secretaries.

Trump intends to impose reciprocal tariffs on countries that tax American imports and refers to the long-planned event as “liberation day for America”. He says the new tariffs “will be far more generous than those countries were to us”.

Australia and the US negotiated a free trade agreement in 2005 that removed tariffs between the two nations (until Trump imposed 25 per cent levies on steel and aluminium in February).

The administration has said it will also crack down on other countries’ non-tariff trade barriers. But it was not clear if that would take place this week.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt with a sheet highlighting other countries’ tariffs on US products.Credit: Bloomberg

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she would leave the details of the announcement to Trump. Asked by this masthead whether countries with non-tariff trade barriers, such as Australia, should expect to be included in the “liberation day” tariffs, she said: “I think any country that has treated the American people unfairly should expect to receive a tariff in return on Wednesday.”

Arrangements for the tariffs were still being decided. On Sunday, White House National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett told Fox News that Trump had yet to decide how many countries would be hit.

“I can’t give you any forward-looking guidance on what’s going to happen this week. The president has got a heck of a lot of analysis before him, and he’s going to make the right choice, I’m sure,” Hassett said.

On Sunday, on board Air Force One, Trump said the tariff moves would apply widely. “You’d start with all countries,” he said. Advisers have previously suggested the tariffs would focus on a “dirty 15”, with which the US had the largest trade deficits.

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