CANBERRA. Anthony Albanese picked up the phone to Donald Trump on Thursday night and did what every Australian prime minister dreads — he begged.
The PM spent the call pushing for the US to scrap its 12.5 per cent tariffs on Australian exports, telling reporters in Canberra on Friday the conversation was 'warm and productive'.
But the payoff? A presidential shrug and a promise to 'give consideration' to the request.
'I put the case as strongly as I could. It was a constructive discussion about why Australia should get at least the best treatment,' Mr Albanese said.
'I did ask that Australia's position as a friend of the United States be considered, and the president agreed that he would give consideration to my request.'
The tariff sting
Australia had already copped the lowest tariff rate under the US regime — 10 per cent — before Washington jacked it up further, citing concerns over modern slavery laws.
The federal government has been screaming for the levy to be scrapped, given the US actually runs a trade surplus with Australia.
Mr Albanese said he used the call to lecture the president on Australia's record on supply-chain accountability.
'I informed him about our record when it comes to dealing with issues such as modern slavery, the strengthening that we have put forward as well, to look and hold companies accountable for the supply-chain process as well,' he said.
'We have a different view, a different perspective. What I was able to do was to put the case to the president not in ideological terms, because the position is what it is.'
AUKUS 'full steam ahead'
The two leaders also chewed over the AUKUS submarine pact, with Mr Albanese declaring the trillion-dollar deal would keep delivering for all three partners.
'We agreed it (AUKUS) was a project that is and will continue to deliver benefits for the United States, for Australia, and for the United Kingdom,' he said.
The call landed just hours after Pentagon official Elbridge Colby — a former AUKUS sceptic — confirmed the mega-deal was 'full steam ahead'.
Mr Colby, the US under secretary of war, had previously written a skeptical review of the submarine arrangement before revising his tune to fall in line with Mr Trump's view.
The Pentagon recently admitted construction of US Virginia-class nuclear submarines was limping along at about 1.1 to 1.2 boats a year — well short of the 2.33 needed annually to meet AUKUS requirements.
China missile test on the table
The call wasn't all tariffs and submarines. Mr Albanese also briefed the president on a Chinese ballistic missile test in the Pacific in July that has rattled leaders across the region.
'This caused a great deal of concern right across the Pacific, which is true,' Mr Albanese said.
The pair also chewed over the Iran war, with Mr Albanese repeating Canberra's line that Tehran 'shouldn't be allowed to have nuclear weapons'.
Mr Albanese has now spoken with Mr Trump at least five times since taking the top job, and the two are expected to meet face-to-face later this year — with a UN trip in September and the G20 summit in Florida in December on the cards.
Whether the president actually delivers on his 'consideration' of the tariff plea, though, is another question entirely.
