US Trade Representative probing Labor’s streaming quotas amid free-trade concerns
The work marks an escalation in tensions between Trump administration officials and the Albanese government over the proposed framework, as Labor races to pass the legislation.
Officials at the US Trade Representative are assessing Australia’s proposed streaming quotas, as Labor faces a growing backlash to the policy from American media companies and the Trump administration.
The work is likely to examine whether Labor’s plans to force streaming platforms to invest in local content violates Australia’s free trade deal with the US, according to two people briefed on the matter who spoke to Capital Brief on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential information.
The US Trade Representative, led by Jamieson Greer, is not expected to make a determination on the Albanese government's policy for some months and the progress of this work remains unclear.
But the formalisation of the scrutiny from US officials marks a further escalation in tensions between the Trump administration and the Albanese government over the proposed framework, as Labor races to pass the legislation in the final days of the parliamentary year.
