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Sky News AU
10 hours ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Anthony Albanese confirms 'scheduled' meeting with US President Donald Trump on G7 sidelines
Anthony Albanese has said he 'expects' to meet US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 Summit, confirming the pair have a 'scheduled' meeting on Tuesday. Following growing pressure for Australia to secure a face-to-face meeting with the US leader, the Prime Minister said he would 'obviously' raise the issue of tariffs, and the importance of the AUKUS amid the Pentagon's review into the $370bn defence pact. 'Obviously, there are issues that the US president is dealing with at the moment, but I expect that we will be able to have a constructive engagement,' he said, speaking from The Spheres, Amazon's Seattle headquarters, on Sunday morning. 'I look forward to building on the very constructive phone conversations that we've had on the three occasions that we've had the opportunity to talk. 'I obviously will raise tariffs. We'll raise, as well, of Aukus, and we will have a discussion, as two friends should.' While he wouldn't 'make declarations' on negotiations, Mr Albanese said he would 'put forward Australia's interests respectfully'. As it stands, Australia has been slugged with a baseline tariff of 10 per cent, plus a 25 per cent levy on aluminium and 50 per cent tariff on steel imports. 'It is also in the interests of the United States for Australia to be treated appropriately. Tariffs across the board, of course, impose an increased cost on the purchases of those goods and services,' Mr Albanese said. 'I will enter into those discussions constructively, the discussions that I've previously had with President Trump were constructive, but those 10 per cent tariff supports have been the minimum … that have been applied across the board.' Although Mr Albanese has previously said he was 'very confident' that the AUKUS pact would continue following the Pentagon review, he added that he will continue to spruik the 'range of benefits' to the US when he meets with Mr Trump. These included allowing the US to access fuel reserves in the Northern Territory, and the Henderson Defence Precinct in Perth, which will also allow US and UK submarines to be in the 'water for longer' and support maintenance stops. He also noted that Australia had already invested $500m in the first phase of AUKUS Pillar One, which will allow us to acquire a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines. The US' call for Australia to increase its defence spending from current levels of 2 per cent of GDP to 3 per cent, will likely also dominate conversations. 'There are a range of ways in which Australia's contribution to the United States … particularly in AUKUS Pillar One, is very much in Australia's national interest,' he said. Speaking to the greater economic relationship between Australia and the US, Mr Albanese said it was 'important to recognise' that Australia has a trade surplus with the states both in terms of goods and services. Mr Albanese is also set to speak to business leaders from BHP Ventures, quantum computing leader Diraq, Trellis Health, Airwallex and Anthropic, where he will highlight the importance of 'free and fair trade' arrangements between the two countries. 'We want to grow the economic relationship between our two countries, and I'm sure that when I have the opportunity to have discussions with President Trump, we will speak about the important economic relationship between our two countries, which is in the interests of both Australia and the United States,' he said on Saturday morning, local time. Appearing alongside Amazon Web Services (AWS) chief executive Matt Garman on Saturday morning local time, the pair announced that the tech giant would increase its investment of data centre infrastructure to $20bn between 2025 to 2020. As it stands AWS operates three data centre zones across Melbourne and Sydney. Mr Albanese said it was an example of how the private sector growing Australia's economy and boosting productivity – a key goal in Labor's second term. 'We know that AI is so important, and this investment will certainly support complex AI and supercomputing applications as well,' he said. 'It will boost Australia's economic growth, our resilience and our productivity, it will accelerate the development of Australia's growing data centre infrastructure and support technology adoption by Australian businesses.' Mr Garman said the new funding commitment was the 'largest investment ever announced by a global technology provider in Australia'. He added that AWS already had a significant presence in Australia, providing cloud hosting services for CommBank, Canva and Atlassian. 'Today in AWS, the demand that we're seeing for cloud computing and AI is massive, and it's remaking every single industry out there in the world, from banking to healthcare to retail … and we estimate the technology over the next decade will drive over $600bn increases in Australia's GDP by the year 2030.' Mr Albanese's visit to Seattle also coincided with the anti-Trump No King protests, which swamped Seattle's CBD just hours after the Saturday morning media event. Hoards of people carrying signs which read: 'Hate does not make America great,' and 'have mercy, not MAGA,' marched down 8th Avenue, less than 500m where Mr Albanese spoke with Mr Garman hours earlier. They were also heard chanting: 'Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go'. The demonstrations coincided with the military parade in Washington DC which will mark the 250th anniversary of the US Army. Originally published as Anthony Albanese confirms 'scheduled' meeting with US President Donald Trump on G7 sidelines
Perth Now
a day ago
- Business
- Perth Now
Albo's pointed push to US business leaders
Anthony Albanese will push the benefits of free and fair trade when he speaks to US-based business leaders in Seattle ahead of a highly-anticipated but yet-to-be confirmed meeting with Donald Trump. The Prime Minister arrived in Seattle in the early hours of Saturday morning local time, where he will tour the Amazon headquarters and spruik the tech giant's billions-dollars commitment to expand Australia's data centre network. Mr Albanese is also scheduled to deliver a speech to business leaders at the Technology and Innovation Business Reception on Saturday evening, where he's expected to say that free and fair trade has 'transformed the economies of our region'. The event will be attended by senior representatives from BHP Ventures, quantum computing leader Diraq, Trellis Health, Airwallex and Anthropic, and promote the success and innovation behind the 1100+ Australian companies which have a physical presence in the US. Australia's US Ambassador Kevin Rudd, who was seen in Canberra on Thursday before Mr Albanese departed on his six-day international trip, is also expected to give a short speech. 'Free and fair trade has transformed the economies of our region. And it underpins economic partnership between our two nations, including through the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement, signed twenty years ago,' Mr Albanese is expected to say. 'Today, the United States is Australia's largest foreign investment destination and our largest two-way investment partner. Our task is to build on this strength – and diversify beyond it. Anthony Albanese is visiting the US on his way to Canada for the G7 summit. Photo: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard Credit: News Corp Australia 'To seek out new sources for growth and investment, particularly in the sectors you represent.' The pointed remarks come as Mr Albanese is facing increased pressure to secure a meeting with Mr Trump on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta. The pivotal meeting, which will be Mr Albanese's first since Mr Trump was re-elected in November last year, will likely cover whether Australia can broker a tariff exemption, Australia's defence spending which remains short of the 3.5 per cent called on by the US, and more clarity on the future of the AUKUS security defence pact. While AUKUS sceptic and secretary for defence policy Elbridge Colby has been tasked with leading the Pentagon's review into the security pact, Mr Albanese has said the 'very confident' AUKUS remained in the 'interests of all three of our nations, and that it will play an important role in peace, security and stability around the world'. Following the brief US stopover, Mr Albanese will head north to Calgary in Canada, before travelling to Kananskis.
Bloomberg
12-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Pritzker Scores Quantum Win as Australian Firm Picks Chicago Hub
Illinois's quantum campus, championed by Governor JB Pritzker, is adding an Australian tech firm to its list of future tenants on Chicago's South Side, advancing his push to make the state a hub for the industry. The Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, which will be under construction over the next two years, has signed a letter of intent with Diraq, an Australian firm working on expanding technology using silicon quantum dot spin qubits, which quantum computers use to exchange information. Diraq will use the park's 'On-Ramp,' a program that provides more than 2,000 square feet of space and specialized equipment while the campus is under development at the site of a former US Steel plant.
