Treasurer Chalmers to meet US Treasury secretary as tariffs loom
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The news: Treasurer Jim Chalmers will attempt to woo Donald Trump’s new Treasury secretary as the Albanese government scrambles to avoid the Trump administration’s tariff regime.
The context: Chalmers is in Washington DC for the Australian Superannuation Investment Summit, hosted at Australia’s embassy this week.
On the sidelines on Tuesday evening (AEDT), the treasurer will sit down with new US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent in the pair’s first meeting since he was confirmed last month.
Hanging over the meeting is Trump’s impending aluminium and steel tariff regime, which is currently set to apply to Australia when it comes into effect on 12 March.
While Trump has publicly confirmed he is considering an exemption for Canberra, which he granted during his last administration, the White House has delivered mixed messages over its intentions.
Chalmers will stress Australia’s trade surplus with the US — Trump touts tariffs as a remedy for trade deficits — and its role as a trusted partner in key sectors like critical minerals.
But the treasurer is playing down the prospects of a major breakthrough during the talks, as Australia’s broader diplomatic corps works to avert the tariffs.
Bessent, a former hedge fund manager, was a major donor to Trump’s 2016 and 2024 campaigns and reportedly became a key economic adviser to the president in July.
Bessent was appointed acting director of the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an independent watchdog set up after the Global Financial Crisis to protect Americans against predatory lenders and corporate fraud.
He immediately ordered the CFPB halt its operations, despite the body returning more than USD20 billion ($31.5 billion) to consumers since it was created in 2011.
What they said: “Trade and tariffs will be part of the conversation but not the whole conversation,” Chalmers said in a statement.
“I won’t pre-empt the talks on steel and aluminium, except to say they are ongoing discussions and I don’t expect to conclude them while I’m there.”
