Australian PM to press Trump on tariffs, defence pact
SYDNEY - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he will meet with US President Donald Trump at the G7 meeting in Canada, where he plans to discuss trade tariffs and a defence pact put under review by Washington.
The G7 summit starting Sunday in the Canadian Rockies town of Kananaskis marks the first major global gathering of Trump's second term.
"We do have a meeting scheduled," Albanese told reporters, adding that he expected "a constructive engagement".
"We'll raise tariffs, we'll raise the importance as well of AUKUS, and we will have a discussion as two friends should," he said from Seattle, as he makes his way to the G7 summit.
The 2021 AUKUS deal joins Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States in a multi-decade effort to balance China's growing military might.
The deal aims to arm Australia with a fleet of cutting-edge, nuclear-powered submarines from the United States and provides for cooperation in developing an array of warfare technologies.
The Trump administration put the pact under review last week, but Australian officials said it was "perfectly natural for an incoming administration to do".
"The context of the AUKUS discussions will be what Australia contributes, the potential that AUKUS has to allow for a range of benefits to the United States," he said.
Australia, a close US ally, has been slugged with a blanket 10 percent tariff on goods exported to the United States -- rising to 50 percent on steel and aluminium -- as part of Trump's sweeping global duties
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Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading In his second term, having authorised the military strikes against Iranian nuclear and oil facilities, including the killing of nuclear scientists and that country's top military brass, it is difficult to imagine what, if anything… is Trump still waiting to decide in two weeks. Along came deception. 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He has an amazing name for this messianic operation, composed of many false flags. Helped by the charismatic evangelists, its haloed name is shocking for its biblical end-of-time-ish fatalism. The Gog of Magog. * Ambassador Bheki Gila is a Barrister-at-Law. ** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, Independent Media, or IOL. Get the real story on the go: Follow the Sunday Independent on WhatsApp.
