Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Sunday that he intends to bring up the matter of new U.S. tariffs directly with President Donald Trump, following Washington’s decision this week to hit dozens of trading partners — including Australia — with fresh trade penalties.
On Friday, the United States moved to impose new tariffs on goods coming from 60 countries, with the White House alleging those nations had not done enough to stop the flow of products made using forced labor. The action came just as a temporary 10% global tariff was set to expire.
The Albanese-led Labor government has called the tariffs unjustified and is pushing for their removal.
When asked Sunday whether he planned to take the issue up personally with Trump, Albanese did not hesitate. “Absolutely,” he said.
“We’ll raise it at every level in the Australia-U.S. relationship, we’ve already done so,” Albanese stated in comments broadcast on television.
The prime minister also defended Australia’s track record on combating modern slavery, saying the country has strong protections already in place and is working to make them even tougher. He noted efforts to examine supply chain issues and ensure that “substantial fines and penalties can be paid” for violations.
Under the newly announced tariff structure, Australia joins 37 other countries facing a 12.5% rate on imports into the U.S. An additional 17 nations are subject to a 10% tariff, while five countries fall under a mixed rate structure.
Albanese, who has long emphasized a commitment to what he calls “free and fair trade” with the United States, previously made tariffs a central topic when he spoke with Trump by phone following his center-left government’s decisive election victory last year.
