Albanese's Trump plea before crucial summit
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to make a plea for the Trump administration to temper its trade policies in a key speech in the US ahead of this weekend's crucial G7 summit in Canada.
Mr Albanese will tell an audience of US and Australian technology leaders in Seattle that Australia will 'engage respectfully and constructively' in matters that effect 'our national interest' and will continue to advocate for 'free and fair trade'.
Donald Trump has repeatedly said that the US has been treated 'unfairly' by many countries on economic matters and he is wary of free trade deals.
The Trump administration has imposed tariffs including a 10 per cent import tax on Australia despite the US having a trade surplus with Australia.
That will be another theme that the PM will pointedly raise in his US speech.
Both the US President and Mr Albanese are heading to the G7 summit of the world's wealthiest nations – but so far no meeting between the pair has been publicly announced.
Indeed, the mood music towards Australia has been dicey over recent days.
It has chastised Australia for not spending enough on defence, has criticised it for sanctioning two far right Israeli ministers as has announced a review of the AUKUS defence pact which will shred nerves in Canberra.
Major Amazon investment in Australia
The centrepiece of Mr Albanese's Seattle trip will be the announcement of a 'significant investment' by tech giant Amazon on data centres in Australia.
The dollar figure has yet to be released.
Data centres are physical buildings which are critical IT hubs.
'It was fantastic to … highlight (Amazon's) new investment in Australia's strong and growing digital economy,' he is expected to say at a technology and business reception in Seattle on Saturday, US time, hosted by Australia's US ambassador Kevin Rudd.
'This sends a signal to the world – and it's a powerful symbol of Australia and the United States co-operating to seize and shape a new era of prosperity.'
Mr Albanese will push for more investment from US firms in Australia in fields including artificial intelligence defence, health and space technology.
Mr Albanese's Seattle trip coincides with the end of AI Con, which is being attended by firms including Microsoft, Google, and Amazon Web Services.
'Respectful, constructive'
In Seattle, the PM will also will beat the drum for the US not to lose track of its positive economic relationship with Australia amid Donald Trump's clamour for tariffs.
'This city reflects of the strength of the economic relationship between Australia and the United States,' the PM will say.
'The US has had an annual trade surplus with Australia since the early 1950s.
'We will engage respectfully and constructively, in our national interest,' he will add.
'We will continue to advocate for free and fair trade, for the jobs it creates and the investment it drives.
We will hold true to the principles of shared opportunity and collective responsibility that are vital to building a more secure, prosperous and stable region – and world.'
Mr Albanese will depart Seattle for the G7 meeting near Calgary, in the Canadian province of Alberta, on Sunday.
Hosted by Canadian PM Mark Carney, world leaders including France's Emmanuel Macron, Britain's Sir Kier Starmer and Japan's Shigeru Ishiba will attend.
Australia is not part of the G7 but Mr Albanese has been invited as a guest alongside India's Narendra Modi, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and others.
Mr Albanese has yet to meet Mr Trump and it would be extraordinary if he failed to do so in The Rocky Mountain resort of Kananaskis the summit is being held under tight security.
The US defence department's review of AUKUS came after defence secretary Pete Hegseth said Australia should spend more on its military.
It could conceivably see AUKUS, a nuclear submarine pact between the US, UK and Australia, axed altogether.
But in Fiji, on Friday, Mr Albanese tried to calm nerves.
'We are very confident that AUKUS is in the interest of all three of our nations, and that it will play an important role in peace, security and stability around the world, at a time when that is absolutely necessary,' he said.
If the two do meet, Mr Albanese would be looking for some kind of reassurance from Mr Trump that AUKUS is still on track and Australia will receive its nuclear submarines.
He will also likely bring up US tariffs on Australia and see if there is a way of reducing the 50 per cent import that the US has on steel from most countries.
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