Anthony Albanese asked Donald Trump to exempt Australian goods from the 12.5 per cent United States tariff imposed last month, in a phone call held overnight on Thursday. It was the first conversation between the two leaders since March.
The Prime Minister said he pressed for a full exemption or, failing that, no further increase. Speaking in Canberra on Friday, he said the President had agreed to consider the request.
“I put the case as strongly as I could. It was a constructive discussion about why Australia should get at least the best treatment," Albanese said. He described the tone of the call as warm and productive.”
"I did ask that Australia's position as a friend of the United States be considered, and the president agreed that he would give consideration to my request."
The tariff took effect on 23 July, Washington time, when the Office of the United States Trade Representative issued a final determination against 60 economies it had examined over goods made with forced labour. Australia was one of 38 economies given the 12.5 per cent rate. Before that determination, Australian exports to the United States carried the 10 per cent baseline rate.
Australia's answer so far has been to change its own law. The government is drafting a criminal offence for companies with annual revenue above $70 million that fail to prevent modern slavery in their supply chains. Albanese said he raised that work on the call.
"I informed him about our record when it comes to dealing with issues such as modern slavery," he said.
The two leaders also discussed the AUKUS submarine agreement, which Albanese said both governments accept will benefit all three partners. He said the call covered Australia's despatch of 180 firefighters to the United States, a classified update on the war with Iran, Chinese ballistic missile testing in the Pacific, the 75th anniversary of the Australia and United States alliance, and what he called a few personal issues.
No exemption has been granted. The 12.5 per cent rate applies to Australian goods entering the United States today at the same level it did yesterday, and the Federal Register notice that set it lists the exemptions that already exist. The government has not said what it will do if the request is refused.
The forced labour determination was not aimed at Australia. It covered 60 economies, named 38, and applied one rate to all of them. That is the position Australia is negotiating from: not a bilateral dispute with a specific remedy, but an argument that a country inside the alliance should be treated differently from the other 37.
