Trump agrees to consider Australian exemption from tariffs, describing Albanese as ‘very fine man’
- Written by: Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
US President Donald Trump has agreed to “consider” exempting Australia from the 25% tariff he has imposed on imports of steel and aluminium to the US.
Trump gave the undertaking during a wide-ranging 40-minute conversation with Anthony Albanese early Tuesday morning (Australian time). The prime minister, speaking to a news conference soon afterwards, stressed that Trump had agreed on the precise words to be used to describe the outcome.
“I presented Australia’s case for an exemption and we agreed on wording to say publicly, which is that the US president agreed that an exemption was under consideration in the interests of both of our countries.”
Albanese gave no indication of when he expects a decision.
Meanwhile, Trump has signed the executive orders for the 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium without exemptions.
The Australian government might be able to take heart from Trump’s later comments on the discussion.
The president described Albanese as a “very fine man”.
“We have a surplus with Australia, one of the few, and the reason is they buy a lot of airplanes. They’re rather far away and they need lots of airplanes. We actually have a surplus. It’s one of the only countries which we do. I told him that that’s something that we’ll give great consideration to,” he told the media.
Pressed on whether he was confident of an exemption, Albanese would not speculate beyond the agreed words. “The words that I’ve used are the words that I’ll stick to,” he said.
“It’s appropriate when you’re dealing with the president of the United States to not speak on his behalf. And those are the words that were agreed.”
“We’ll continue to engage diplomatically.” Albanese said, “Australia will always stand up for Australia’s interests […] We’ll continue to put the case.”
The prime minister described the call as “constructive and warm” and posted on social media that it was a “great conversation”.
Outlining Australia’s argument for an exemption Albanese said the US had a trade surplus with Australia of about two to one, and steel supplier BlueScope had extensive production in the US.
“When you look at the imports of these products into the US, it’s about 1% of imports of steel, 2% of aluminium,” he told his news conference.
“Our steel is an important input to US manufacturing. BlueScope is the US’s fifth largest steelmaker. They’ve invested $5 billion in the US across a range of states. I think there’s more than 30 different investments there.
"Of course the major export is Colorbond there, for roofs in California on the west coast. And it plays an important role.
"Aluminium is a critical input for manufacturing in the United States and our steel and aluminium are both key inputs for the US-Australian defence industries. in both of our countries.”
Albanese said that in the conversation, “We spoke about a range of other things as well, including the fact that Jordan Mailata is a Super Bowl champion and I did point out that he was a South Sydney junior”.
The call, which was in train before the tariff announcement, also canvassed critical minerals and AUKUS.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton again criticised Albanese over his past comments about Trump. But the opposition leader told a news conference: “What’s important now is the Trump administration hears there is a bipartisan position in Australia to stand up for our national interest and that national interest is best served by a removal of the tariff as it applies to Australia.”
The presidential proclamation on the aluminium tariffs has accused Australia of flouting “a verbal commitment” the Americans claim was given when the exemption was provided in the first Trump presidency.
“Australia has disregarded its verbal commitment to voluntarily restrain its aluminum exports to a reasonable level,” it says.
“The volume of US imports of aluminum articles from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Mexico, EU countries, and the UK in 2024 was approximately 14 per cent higher than the average volume of such imports in 2015 through 2017.
"The volume of US imports of primary aluminum from Australia has also surged and in 2024 was approximately 103 per cent higher than the average volume for 2015 through 2017.”
