Second department finds no document record of Morrison-Trump aluminium pact
Scott Morrison and Donald Trump struck a 'verbal' agreement over tariffs in 2019. But finding a paper trail in the relevant departments is proving difficult.
A second Commonwealth department says it has no record of a verbal commitment struck between former prime minister Scott Morrison and US President Donald Trump to curb Australian aluminium exports.
The 2019 pact was thrust back into the spotlight in February, when Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro accused Australia of breaking the agreement and warned no exemptions from aluminium and steel tariffs would be granted.
Last month, Capital Brief revealed a “thorough search” at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) — conducted following a freedom of information (FOI) request — had thrown up no matches.
This week, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) also refused an FOI request for relevant documents, saying “all reasonable steps” had been taken to find them.
