This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The trade minister, Steve Ciobo, has denied that Australia will be forced to join America’s next military outing in return for Donald Trump’s exemptions on steel and aluminium tariffs.

Malcolm Turnbull confirmed on Saturday that Australia had won a reprieve from Trump’s global steel and aluminium tariffs, despite the Trump administration saying the levies were necessary for the national security of the United States.

He said Australia would not have to provide anything in return for the exemption, even though Trump had tweeted that Turnbull was “committed to having a very fair and reciprocal military and trade relationship” and the two countries were now working on a “security agreement”.

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Questions were raised over what such a security agreement might entail, especially in light of Trump telling the prime minister in February that he would love Australia to join the US on new freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea.

But Ciobo said there was no implicit understanding about a quid pro quo linking trade and military promises.

“I’ve seen some, frankly, incredibly wild theories emanating from all quarters, including some journalists who should know better,” Ciobo told ABC TV on Sunday. “It is effectively just about the paperwork, for lack of a better term, that’s got to be undertaken.

“This is a great outcome for Australia. It continues to ensure we are well-placed with respect to boosting exports, trade, investment, the very key drivers that make our economy strong and that create jobs for our nation.”



Turnbull denied on Saturday that the two countries were working on a new “security” agreement, saying Trump’s statement was only referring to the legal paperwork and the proclamation that will follow to put the exemption in place.

“We have the closest possible military and security alliance with the United States and it gets closer all of the time,” he said.

Labor’s finance spokesman, Jim Chalmers, said it remained to be seen what expectations Trump might attach to the deal but Australia did already have a long history of co-operation with the US on both economic and military fronts.

“I don’t have an insight into the conversation between Donald Trump and Malcolm Turnbull but I think it’s fair to say that our cooperation is really extraordinarily close in a military sense, in terms of intelligence sharing right across the board,” he told Sky News.

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“We’ll wait to hear more about any further developments but, for the time being, we’re being very positive about the outcome secured.

“I think a whole range of factors come into these sorts of deals that are made between countries, not just the military one but economic co-operation as well.”

Chalmers said that, with tariffs still being imposed on other countries, Australia now had to be vigilant to make sure those countries did not redirect their steel to Australia and dump cheaper steel in the local market.

He said the government also had to be mindful of the broader consequences of the tariffs on global trade and security relations.