CANBERRA, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell has said he is "not scared" of U.S. President Donald Trump as the nation continues to push for an exemption from U.S. tariffs.
Farrell said on Friday that the current Labor Party government has a "track record" on free trade.
"I'm not scared of President Trump," he told Sky News Australia.
"My job as trade minister is to represent the best interests of Australia, to get these tariffs removed, to negotiate."
Farrell told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio earlier on Friday that the U.S. administration has indicated it is "prepared to talk" about an exemption from the tariffs.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday reiterated his comment from Thursday that the U.S. new baseline 10 percent tariff on imports from Australia was "not the act of a friend".
Albanese, who is seeking to win a second term in power at the general election on May 3, said he is "very confident" that there will still be a demand from the U.S. for Australian beef.
"It's just that U.S. consumers will pay more for it, which is why this is an act of economic self-harm," he told ABC radio.
Asked about opposition leader Peter Dutton's proposal to use defense as a negotiating tool to earn an exemption from the tariffs, Albanese said that doing so would be "reckless".
"Our defense is something that we look to our national interest in. It's not something that you just make a flippant remark about like that," he said.
In his immediate response to the U.S. tariffs on Thursday, Albanese announced a five-point policy response, including strengthening anti-dumping laws to protect local steel and aluminum manufacturers and establishing a strategic reserve of critical minerals.
The ABC reported on Friday night that Albanese's government is planning to turn Australia into a "major player" in the global critical minerals market if re-elected.
According to the ABC, the government has ambitions to develop local capability to process critical minerals.
Ed Husic, minister for science and industry, said on Friday that the government would release details of the critical minerals plan closer to election day. ■
