AUSTRALIA – FOREIGN RELATIONS – UNITED STATES

Australia first: PM ready for trade row

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Original article by Ben Packham, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 2-Apr-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has responded to the Trump administration’s new list of trade grievances with Australia, ahead of the formal announcement of the reciprocal tariffs regime. The report on foreign trade barriers was released by US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and includes Australia’s import bans on uncooked US meat and poultry products, the News Media Bargaining Code and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Albanese stated that these issues are "not up for negotiation", stating that the federal government will "defend Australia’s interests". Opposition leader Peter Dutton supported his stance, saying that he will stand up for the nation’s interests every day if the Coalition wins the election on 3 May.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Australia should persist with AUKUS despite risk of US relationship ‘becoming unstuck’, former defence department secretary says

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Original article by Ben Doherty
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 1-Apr-25

Dennis Richardson has told a Security and Sovereignty conference organised by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull that Australia should stick with the $368 billion AUKUS submarine deal. Richardson, who is a former secretary of both the defence and foreign affairs departments, says this is despite the US becoming a "less reliable and a more demanding ally" under Donald Trump’s second administration. He said that acquiring nuclear submarines was in Australia’s national interest, while Turnbull told the conference that Australia’s relationship with the US had been "irrevocably altered" by the new Trump administration.

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Albanese government unwilling to buy its way out of Trump tariffs

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Original article by Tom Crowley, Alison Xiao
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 1-Apr-25

Trade Minister Don Farrell says the federal government is prepared for ”any outcome" when the Trump administration announces details of its reciprocal tariffs regime. Farrell adds that the government will always stand up for Australia and will never ‘trade away’ the things that make it "the best country in the world". Australia’s trade negotiators will not offer any concessions to secure a deal on tariffs, and will continue to push the case for an exemption on grounds such as the fact that US has a long-standing trade surplus with Australia. President Donald Trump has rejected suggestions that the tariffs will target 10-15 countries that have the largest trade deficits with the US, stating that the tariffs will apply to all countries.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Albanese confident US would come to Australia’s defence in event of attack

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Original article by Kate Lyons
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 25-Feb-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese discussed issues such as Australia’s alliance with the US, the cost-of-living crisis and social cohesion in a special edition of the ABC’s Q&A program on Monday night. Amongst other things, Albanese expressed confidence that Australia could rely on the US to help defend the nation if it were to come under attack; however, he also emphasised the need for Australia to invest in its own defence. Albanese described anti-semitism as "abhorrent and completely unacceptable", in response to criticism from an audience member regarding his perceived lack of action against people who have been targeting Jewish Australians.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Bob Carr blasts Labor’s facile policy on Trump

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 18-Feb-25

Former foreign minister Bob Carr has accused the Trump administration of "taking a wrecking ball to NATO", while he claims Trump’s vice-president JD Vance and his main adviser Elon Musk have deliberately encouraged far-right challengers to NATO governments. Speaking on the sidelines of the Australia-Canada Economic Leadership Forum, Carr called on the federal government to abandon its deference to the US, labelling it a "woeful policy response" to what he described as Trump’s radical agenda. Carr said that Australia should "under-react" if Trump hits it with tariffs on steel and aluminium, if only to reduce the likelihood of being hit with ‘across the board’ tariffs.

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NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANISATION

Australia accused of breaking its word on exports as Trump presses go on tariffs

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Original article by David Crary, Michael Koziol, Olivia Ireland
The Age – Page: Online : 12-Feb-25

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to impose a tariff of 25 per cent on all steel and aluminium imports to the US on Tuesday, shortly after discussing the issue with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Trump said there will be "no exceptions", although he had earlier told Albanese that an exemption will be considered due to factors such as America’s trade surplus with Australia. The executive order contended that Australia’s exports of primary aluminium to the US have surged in recent years, despite a verbal commitment to limit these exports. The tariffs will take effect from 12 March, giving the government just one month to negotiate an exemption in the lead-up to the federal election.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

No retaliation if Trump targets us, says Chalmers

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 5 : 5-Feb-25

The federal government is optimistic that Australian imports to the US will not be targeted under President Donald Trump’s new tariffs policy. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has indicated that Labor is not contemplating the need to impose retaliatory measures on US imports, citing factors such as the two nations’ close strategic partnership and the large US trade surplus with Australia. Business Council of Australia CEO Bran Black also believes that such factors will enable Australia to avoid being targeted by Trump.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

ALP’s workaround to cope with a new political climate

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Original article by Greg Brown, Colin Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 22-Jan-25

US President Donald Trump signed a number of climate-related executive orders on the first day of his second term in office. They included the formal withdrawal of the US from the Paris climate agreement, the abolition of electric vehicle subsidies and an expansion of the fossil fuel sector. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would not offer a "running commentary" on Trump’s domestic policy agenda; he added that Australia will not make any major policy changes in response to Trump’s election, including on climate change. However, the government has flagged the possibility of working directly with US states that are controlled by the Democrats regarding climate initiatives.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

AUKUS get-out clause for US, UK

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 13-Aug-24

Documents tabled in federal parliament on Monday have revealed new details of the AUKUS defence alliance. The documents, which include a revised AUKUS agreement, show that the US and the UK will be able to withdraw from the defence pact with only one years’ notice if the deal to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines is deemed to be an ‘unreasonable risk’ to their own military requirements. Meanwhile, Australia has agreed to indemnify its alliance partners for any liability, costs or injury resulting from the AUKUS program. International law expert Don Rothwell notes that the documents do not outline just how much the alliance will cost Australia.

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Minister snubs US: Kiwis are closest

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Original article by Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 19-Mar-24

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham says comments by Trade Minister Don Farrell that the US is not Australia’s closest ally are "errant and disturbing". Farrell made the remark when asked on Monday why Australia had resumed funding to Gazan aid body UNRWA when the US had not, with Farrell stating that Australia was independent, and that over the course of history, New Zealand was its closest internat­ional ally, rather than the US. Birmingham said Farrell’s statement was something he would have expected from the Greens, not a senior government minister.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIAN GREENS