Australia pushes for exemptions from Trump’s tariffs in crucial US visit ahead of election

Australia’s treasurer Jim Chalmers is seeking US tariff exemptions for steel and aluminium, crucial for PM Albanese’s government ahead of coming elections

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Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers: Photo: dpa

Published: 10:54am, 23 Feb 2025Updated: 11:03am, 23 Feb 2025

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he would be travelling to Washington on Sunday as the US ally presses its case to be excluded from tariffs.

The trip is of critical importance for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his centre-left government, which must hold an election within the next three months and has been trailing in recent polls.

Albanese has been under intense pressure from local lawmakers and business executives to secure the exemptions, after painstaking negotiations during Donald Trump’s first term avoided similar trade imposts.

“Trade and tariffs will be part of the conversation, but not the whole conversation,” Chalmers told Australian Broadcasting Corporation television. He plans to meet with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and to highlight areas of economic partnership, including the large investments made in the US by Australia’s US$2.6 trillion pension industry.

A worker pours molten iron at a factory in Geelong, Australia. Photo: EPA-EFE

While Trump earlier this month agreed to consider an exemption for Australia from tariffs on steel and aluminium, senior trade adviser Peter Navarro quickly threw this into doubt, contending that Australia was “killing” the US aluminium market.