By Renju Jose and John Geddie
SYDNEY/TOKYO, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday the AUKUS defence pact remained “full steam ahead” after an overnight call with U.S. President Donald Trump, adding that he had urged Trump to fully exempt Australia from all tariffs.
Albanese said both leaders agreed that AUKUS, a defence pact between Australia, the U.S. and Britain that will deliver nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, would continue to benefit all three countries.
“We reviewed the significant progress that has been made under AUKUS, which remains full steam ahead,” Albanese told reporters in Canberra.
AUKUS is Australia’s largest-ever defence project. It will see U.S.-commanded Virginia-class submarines based in Australia from next year, several Virginia-class submarines sold to Australia from around 2030, and Britain and Australia building a new class of AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine.
Canberra has committed A$368 billion ($260 billion) over three decades to AUKUS, including billions of dollars in investment in British and U.S. production bases.
Formed in 2021, AUKUS is part of efforts to counter China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific. China has called the pact dangerous and warned it could spur a regional arms race.
Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, who led a review of the AUKUS pact last year, said the United States was pleased with the progress made since the review concluded.
“We see a deep alignment of thinking, and we see an energy and a focus more and more on the Australian side,” Colby told reporters during a trip to Southeast Asia this week.
“And we’ll just keep knocking down the targets on our side, and we have every expectation the Australian side will do the same. They know what is required.”
Colby sparked alarm in Canberra in 2024 when he said submarines were a scarce, critical commodity and that U.S. industry could not produce enough to meet American demand.
SEEKING TARIFF EXEMPTION
Albanese said the phone conversation was “very productive, constructive, lengthy and substantial” and that Trump had agreed to consider a full exemption for Australia from U.S. flat 12.5% tariffs.
Australia runs a trade deficit with the U.S., importing U.S. machinery, technology and planes, which, it has argued, should make it exempt from the tariffs.
The two leaders also discussed several other issues, including the conflict with Iran and recent defence alliances that Australia entered into with Papua New Guinea and Fiji.
Albanese said he expressed his government’s position that it wanted to see an end to the conflict in the Middle East, while reiterating that Iran should not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.
($1 = 1.4170 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney and John Geddie in Tokyo; Editing by Chris Reese and Edwina Gibbs)
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