By Brad Ryan in Washington DC
US President Donald Trump has acknowledged Australia’s efforts to talk to him about trade and indicated he intended to speak to the Australian prime minister about the issue.
As he prepared to board a flight in Washington, Mr Trump was asked: “The Australian prime minister is having an election this weekend. Will you speak to him about trade?”
Mr Trump replied: “They are calling and I will be talking to him, yes.”
Anthony Albanese later called it a “lighthearted throwaway comment from the president”.
“I assure you, I’m not staying up at night trying to ring anyone at the moment. I’m in an election campaign,” he told ABC Radio Melbourne.
“I’m sure, if we are successful, we’ll have a discussion after Saturday.”
The Australian government has been attempting to negotiate with the Trump administration over its controversial tariffs regime, which includes a minimum 10 per cent tariff on almost all imports, and 25 per cent tariffs on specific products including aluminium and steel.
Australia’s failure to secure an exemption from any of the tariffs, despite running a consistent trade deficit with the US and putting a significant diplomatic effort into negotiations, has been a dominant issue in the election campaign.
Mr Trump had told Prime Minister Anthony Albanese he would consider exempting Australia from the metal tariffs in February.
But in March, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told the ABC: “He considered it, and considered against it. There will be no exemptions.”
Mr Albanese later called the decision “entirely unjustified” and “against the spirit of our two nations’ enduring friendship”.
The opposition has frequently criticised the prime minister for not making more effort to speak directly to Mr Trump about the tariffs.
Many of America’s trading partners have been targeted with much higher tariffs, but their implementation is on hold to allow for negotiations towards new trade deals.
Earlier on Tuesday, local time, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told business network CNBC a deal had been struck with one trading partner, but he would not say which one.
“I have a deal done,” Mr Lutnick said. “But I need to wait for their prime minister and their parliament to give its approval, which I expect shortly.”
Meanwhile, the White House criticised online retailer Amazon over reports it was considering displaying the effects of tariffs on prices listed on its website.
Ms Leavitt described the reported move as “a hostile and political act by Amazon”.
Amazon later ruled out the idea, prompting Mr Trump to praise its high-profile executive chairman, Jeff Bezos.
“He solved the problem very quickly,” Mr Trump said. “He did the right thing. Good guy.”
While the US has a huge Trade Surplus with Australia, Trump is maintaining the %10 – %25 Tariffs.
So now there are some citizens who are actively avoiding the purchase of good with the origin of the US !!
I have an acquaintance, who was looking at the purchase of RAM Ute (base level ~ $120K), but is now trying to decide between an Amarok and a Nissan Navara, and reducing his outlay to ~ $82K, and going from entry level to top level !!