Australia will address its concerns regarding the new tariffs with Trump, according to PM Albanese

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Sunday his intention to address the matter of tariffs with U.S. President Donald Trump, following the recent imposition of new tariffs by Washington on its trading partners, including Australia.

The United States on Friday implemented new tariffs on products from 60 trading partners, claiming that these nations did not take adequate measures to reduce the trade of goods produced by forced labor, coinciding with the expiration of a temporary 10% global tariff.

The Labor government, led by Albanese, has characterized the tariffs as unjustified and expresses a desire for their removal.

Albanese, when asked on Sunday if he would seek to discuss the issue with Trump, responded with “Absolutely.”

We will address it at every level in the Australia-U.S. relationship; we have already done so,” he stated in televised remarks.

Australia has robust measures in place regarding modern slavery and is “enhancing those even further by addressing supply chain issues and ensuring that substantial fines and penalties can be imposed,” Albanese stated.

Under the new measures of the Trump administration, imports from Australia, along with 37 other nations, are now subject to a tariff of 12.5%. Seventeen nations are subject to a 10% rate, while five nations are subject to a mixed rate.

Albanese, who has previously stated that his focus is on “free and fair trade” with the U.S., emphasized tariffs as a key issue during a call with Trump following the center-left government’s landslide election victory last year.