Anthony Albanese pitches trade facilitator role saying he helped convince Donald Trump to lift US beef tariffs

Anthony Albanese will outline a role for Australia in facilitating dialogue between big players to ease trade and strategic hurdles, after he claimed his government played a key part in convincing Donald Trump to lift US tariffs on beef.

The Prime Minister will reflect on Australia’s shaping of APEC as a body to steer global economic thinking in a speech in Melbourne on Monday afternoon.

The annual leaders’ summit last month played the backdrop to the American president meeting China’s leader Xi Jinping for the first time since Mr Trump was re-elected.

They agreed to ease somewhat the tit-for-tat tariffs and trade barriers between their countries.

“What it demonstrated is how APEC – and the support for trade generally – can act as a bulwark against conflict,” Mr Albanese will tell the audience at RMIT’s APEC Study Centre.

“It can incentivise de-escalation – even at the highest levels. Because trade doesn’t happen in isolation.

“For the economic benefits to flow at home, you need to be able to trust partners overseas. That reliance on trust and mutual benefit encourages nations to work out their differences with dialogue – to work it out rather than to have it out.”

The same can be said for Australia’s role as a trusted partner in the Pacific and respected voice on the world stage, he believes.

The country’s position meant it could provide leadership “without arrogance or bluster” by pointing to the future it wanted and inviting others along.

“Geographically centred in this region, we are uniquely placed to further our shared interests as well as to demonstrate solutions and strategies to solve shared problems,” Mr Albanese will say.

“Perhaps now more than ever, that is the role of a middle power.

“To step up, to facilitate the dialogue that leads to understanding, to give voice to the aspirations and priorities of our neighbours and our region, to take the more fragmented and uncertain world and to look for opportunities to bring others together – and bring them along with us.”

The speech comes days before Mr Albanese flies to South Africa to attend the G20 leaders’ summit.

In a further easing of trade restrictions, Mr Trump on Friday lifted all tariffs on beef imports to the United States along with scores of other food products.

The President was reportedly concerned about persistent domestic worries over high grocery prices.

Mr Albanese welcomed the decision on Sunday and said Australia would continue to advocate for all tariffs to be lifted given it didn’t put any on American imports.

“The decision on beef and some other agricultural products is welcomed and is a direct result of the strong advocacy of Don Farrell as the Trade Minister, of the other Australian ministers, and indeed my meetings with President Trump where we’ve had three meetings over the last month,” he told reporters.

Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino similarly paid tribute to Senator Farrell’s work before conceding Mr Trump’s domestic politics had played a role.

“I think that there were affordability issues in play there, for sure, but I don’t think it’s unfair to say that the strength of our relationship with the US means that it puts us in a better position when it comes to these kinds of situations to get a better deal for Australia,” he told Sky News.

Shadow minister Jonno Duniam said it had seemed almost inevitable that American consumers would push back on higher prices brought by tariffs.

He didn’t think the government should be trying to take credit.

“I know representations had been made, but this is based purely on American domestic politics and consumer pushback that shows that tariffs aren’t always good,” he said.