According to the latest reports from The Guardian and Sky News Australia, Australian Trade Minister Farrell stated in a media interview on the morning of the 16th that he had spoken with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on the 14th, but he is still unsure of the US demand on tariffs. The Guardian reported that Farrell is expected to hold another meeting with US Trade Representative Jamison Greer on the 18th. 鈥�

Farrell said, "That was not a pessimistic conversation. But Lutnick did not guarantee what might happen in the next round of negotiations." In response to the upcoming talks with the U.S. trade representative, Farrell said, "We first need to find out what the Americans want from this arrangement. I don't know what their demands are, but once we find out, we will solve this problem, and we will solve this problem from the national interests of Australia."

The Guardian mentioned that Farrell also confirmed that Australia has been in contact with other countries such as South Korea to expand diversified trade relations. 鈥�

On February 10th, Trump signed a document announcing a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States. Australian Prime Minister Albanese subsequently called Trump over the matter, and Trump stated at the time that he would "seriously consider" waiving tariffs on Australian steel and aluminum products. On March 12th, Australian media reported that White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt told Australian media that Trump had considered exempting Australian steel and aluminum products from tariffs, and the result of his consideration was that he did not agree to the exemption. 鈥�

Albanese held a press conference in Sydney on the 12th, stating that the US refusal to impose tariff exemptions on steel and aluminum products imported from Australia is "completely unreasonable". The Sydney Morning Herald published a commentary stating that the US refusal to waive tariffs marks an era of "trade replacing trust" in Australia US relations, with impacts far beyond trade. Australia needs to re-examine its cooperation model with its most important security partner. 鈥�