Following a tweet from US President Donald Trump, the prime minister took to Twitter with the announcement on Saturday morning.

"Great discussion today on security and trade. Australia/US trade is fair & reciprocal & each of our nations has no closer ally," Mr Turnbull wrote.

"Thank you for confirming new tariffs won't have to be imposed on Australian steel & aluminium - good for jobs in Australia and in US!"

Earlier Mr Trump announced that he'd spoken to Mr Turnbull and the two nations were working on a deal to provide an exemption to the tariffs.

Spoke to PM @TurnbullMalcolm of Australia. He is committed to having a very fair and reciprocal military and trade relationship. Working very quickly on a security agreement so we don’t have to impose steel or aluminum tariffs on our ally, the great nation of Australia! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2018

"Spoke to PM TurnbullMalcolm of Australia. He is committed to having a very fair and reciprocal military and trade relationship," Mr Trump tweeted.

"Working very quickly on a security agreement so we don't have to impose steel or aluminum tariffs on our ally, the great nation of Australia!"

US trading partners were given a 15 day window to negotiate exemptions to the tariffs, due to come into effect in a fortnight.

But Australian Industry Group Chief Executive Innes Willox said the tariff announcement would still hurt companies even if an exemption was granted.

Great discussion today on security and trade. Australia/US trade is fair & reciprocal & each of our nations has no closer ally. Thank you for confirming new tariffs won’t have to be imposed on Australian steel & aluminium - good for jobs in Australia and in US! https://t.co/9ZKMw5n1dZ — Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) March 9, 2018

"While we hope that Australia will win exemptions from the latest steel and aluminium tariffs, this would be only a partial victory," Mr Willox said on Friday.

He said any special treatment afforded to Australia would only apply to shipments coming out of the country, and not to those from Australian companies in third markets.

"As a country with a high reliance on trade, the risks of broader damage to the global economy from a trade war are great," Mr Willox said.

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd said on Saturday that even if Australia secured an exemption a global tit-for-tat was a concern, disagreeing with Mr Trump's belief that trade wars are good.

"History tells us they are bad, and they end up causing not just a contraction in the global trade but, as a result of that, a contraction in global growth," he told ABC.