‘Australia first’: Anthony Albanese ready for Donald Trump’s tariff-triggered trade war

Anthony Albanese is vowing an Australia-first response if the nation is hit by Donald Trump’s new tariffs this week, as Labor steps up efforts to paint Peter Dutton as a Trump copycat.

Anthony Albanese speaks to Ron on the campaign trail in Victoria, who wanted to show him his retirement car. Picture: Jason Edwards / NewsWire

Anthony Albanese is vowing an “Australia first” response if the nation is hit by Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs this week, as Labor steps up its efforts to paint Peter Dutton as a policy disciple of the US President who would Americanise Australia’s health and education systems.

Declaring “Not on my watch”, the Prime Minister pledged to resist the US’s push for Australia to axe biosecurity protections, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and the nation’s News Media Bargaining Code, all of which were singled out in a fresh list of trade grievances issued by the Trump administration on Tuesday AEDT.

The move came as Peter Dutton fuelled Labor’s efforts to tie him to Mr Trump’s agenda when he accused the government of promoting “woke” policies in schools and refused to rule out staff cuts at the federal Department of Education.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers accused the Opposition Leader of taking his policies “straight from the DOGE playbook” – a reference to the President’s Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency.

Mr Trump is set to unveil sweeping “reciprocal tariffs” on Thursday AEDT, with Labor insiders quietly confident that Mr Albanese will enjoy a “Trump bump” if the nation’s exports are affected.

American musician Kid Rock holds an executive order on entertainment ticket scalping signed by President Donald Trump. Picture: AP

They point to an improvement in Labor’s polling after Mr Trump slapped tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium producers last month, and to surges in domestic support for Western leaders who have fallen foul of the US President.

The US’s 2025 report on foreign trade barriers, issued by Mr Trump’s Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, raised concerns over Australia’s import bans on uncooked American beef, pork and poultry products, as well as apples and pears.

It also took issue with Australia’s code to make digital platforms pay news organisations for their content, and reiterated US complaints over the protection of drug-makers’ intellectual property under the PBS.

In a pre-emptive strike ahead of Mr Trump’s tariff announcement, Mr Albanese declared: “Those issues are not up for negotiation from the Australian government. We will defend Australia’s interests. I want to see a constructive outcome, but what I won’t do is undermine our national interest.

“I have very clearly indicated Australia is not negotiating over the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. We are not negotiating over the News Bargaining Code. We will not undermine our biosecurity.”

Peter Dutton faces the Sky News Pub Test with Paul Murray in Brisbane on Monday night. Picture Thomas Lisson / NewsWire

Mr Dutton has attacked Mr Albanese for failing to secure a phone call with the President to lobby for a tariff exemption, but on Tuesday he framed Mr Trump as the problem.

“I agree with the Prime Minister’s position, and I’d say this: I will stand up for our country’s interests every day if I’m given the great honour of being prime minister of this country,” Mr Dutton said.

“I am not going to compromise in relation to issues of national significance and importance to us.”

But the Opposition Leader appeared to take inspiration from Mr Trump’s policies on Monday night, signalling he would use federal education funding to quell progressive agendas in the nation’s classrooms.

“The commonwealth doesn’t own or run a school … but we do provide funding to the state governments and we condition that funding,” he told Sky News.

“We should be saying to states, and be saying to those who receive that funding, that we want our kids to be taught the curriculum and we want our kids to be taught what it is they need … as they face the challenges of the world.”

Mr Dutton went a step further in Melbourne on Tuesday, leaving the door open to cuts to the federal education bureaucracy.

“We’ve said that we want to take waste out of the federal budget and put it back into frontline services,” he said, when asked whether education bureaucrats could be among those axed in his planned public service cuts.

Dr Chalmers said Mr Dutton had tried to “Americanise Medicare” when health minister, and was now looking to replicate Mr Trump’s abolition of the US’s federal Department of Education. “This is DOGE-y Dutton, taking his cues and policies straight from the US in a way that will make Australians worse off,” he said.

Education Minister Jason Clare accused Mr Dutton of recycling “half-baked ideas imported from the US”.

“Abolishing the Department of Education is just … the thin edge of the wedge,” he said. “Peter Dutton’s bigger agenda is to cut funding from our schools. That’s what the Liberals always do.”

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull urged both sides not to “suck up” to Mr Trump.

“The United States is a friend, but my plea to Australian politicians is get off your knees and stand up for Australia,” he said. “Be as transactional with America as it is with us.”