Natalie Barr:
Relations with our most important global ally are on a knife edge this morning with the US President accusing Australia of breaking its word over a verbal commitment in 2017 to limit our aluminium exports.
It comes as Anthony Albanese works desperately to negotiate an exemption from sweeping US tariffs.
The PM is now left with less than 30 days to make a deal worth about $1 billion and thousands of Aussie jobs now on the line. Treasurer Jim Chalmers joins us live in Canberra. Good morning to you. Is Anthony Albanese any good at golf?
Jim Chalmers:
Good morning, Nat. I don’t think he is. I think the Deputy Prime Minister is a pretty handy golfer, but I’m not sure about Anthony.
He had a really productive, positive conversation with President Trump yesterday and I’ve read the reports this morning about some of the issues you raised in your introduction.
It’s important to remember that what we’re talking about here is almost a decade ago and what we’re focused on is what’s in front of us.
The President said yesterday that he was willing to consider an exemption from those steel and aluminium tariffs. That’s an important development and our focus is forwards rather than backwards.
Barr:
He also seemed to say that from that deal back in 2017–2018, we started sending too much aluminium in the years since. So, we broke our agreement, did we?
Chalmers:
Not that I’m aware of.
I’ve obviously seen the reports out of DC, and I’m not disputing your characterisation of them, but this happened under a previous Coalition government.
They may be able to provide a bit more colour and context around some of these claims, and no doubt we’ll be able to find a way to get to the bottom of what’s happened there.
But again, we’re talking about almost a decade ago. The conversation that happened yesterday was very productive, very positive.
Prime Minister Albanese made the case for our steel and aluminium exporters standing up for our national economic interest and for Australian jobs.
It’s a good thing that President Trump said that he would be willing to consider that exemption. We obviously don’t take any outcome for granted, but yesterday’s conversation between the 2 leaders was a positive step.
Barr:
Malcolm Turnbull made that deal back then, didn’t he? Are you going to pick up the phone to him today and say ‘what the?’
Chalmers:
As I understand it, I haven’t seen this myself, but as I understand it, Malcolm Turnbull responded yesterday and said that it wasn’t his recollection or something of that nature.
For the leaders who were around at the time, they’d be able to provide more perspective on what has or hasn’t happened here.
Barr:
It’s kind of important though, when you’ve got the US President saying, hey, you broke the deal and this could be the clincher about whether we get 25 per cent tariffs.
Chalmers:
I understand. These are big, significant announcements being made out of D.C. They’re not especially surprising. They were flagged in the election campaign.
But what really matters is that our Prime Minister went in to bat for Australian jobs and Australian industries. He did have that positive and productive conversation. An exemption is under consideration.
Again, we don’t count our chickens before they’re hatched. There’s obviously some consideration that has to happen, particularly at the American end. But what Prime Minister Albanese did yesterday is what we expect of Australian leaders, which is to go in to bat for Australian industries and jobs. That’s what he did. It was a very fruitful conversation and no doubt there will be more work that happens from here.
Barr:
Yeah, look, it seems good by anyone’s assessment, but there also seems to be a bit to sort out. Do you think our Prime Minister should get on the plane and actually go to Washington and meet Trump?
Chalmers:
There’ll be other opportunities for the 2 leaders to spend time together, whether it’s on the phone or in person. Obviously Australian leaders and American leaders catch up from time to time.
Barr:
They’ve only got a month, though. Should he actually, like, fly there and do a person‑to‑person chat?
Chalmers:
Obviously it’s especially pressing right now, but yesterday’s conversation augurs well for the relationship between the 2 governments and the 2 countries.
As President Trump said yesterday, the Americans run a trade surplus with us. That makes us different to some of these other countries that have been the focus of President Trump in recent days. We do have a good case to make. We’ll make it in all kinds of different ways. Prime Minister Albanese speaking with him directly yesterday was a really important step.
Barr:
Treasurer, we thank you for your time this morning.
Chalmers:
Thanks, Nat.