By Renju Jose
SYDNEY, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday that the AUKUS defence pact remained "full steam ahead" after an overnight phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump, and said he had urged him 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 ($259.7 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.
Albanese said the phone conversation was "very productive, constructive, lengthy and substantial" and that he had urged Trump to consider a full exemption for Australia from its flat 12.5% tariffs.
"I did ask that Australia's position as a friend of the United States be considered and the president agreed that he would give consideration to my request," Albanese said.
"So I put the case as strongly as I could. It was a constructive discussion about why Australia should get at least the best treatment."
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; Editing by Chris Reese)
