The prime minister will soon begin running a diplomatic gauntlet that will end with a much-anticipated meeting with Donald Trump, after landing in Canada.
Anthony Albanese was greeted by local officials and First Nations representatives when he touched down in the Alberta city of Calgary ahead of meetings with world leaders on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Kananaskis.
Mr Albanese will first meet with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday local time (Monday AEST) before a talk with newly-elected South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on Monday, then more discussions the following day with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
But his final chat face to face with the US president on Tuesday looms as the most important of all.
Every leader has had to reckon with the impact of the US president’s threatened tariffs on their economies.
But Mr Carney, in particular, could provide insight to Mr Albanese.
Despite vowing to fight back against the tariffs, the Canadian prime minister’s meetings with Mr Trump have been relatively well received by both parties and raised hopes for a fresh trade deal between the two North American nations.
Mr Albanese’s meeting with the Republican president is scheduled for Tuesday on the margins of the summit.
The prime minister has taken a less adversarial stance to Mr Trump’s approach than his Canadian peer, preferring to highlight Australia’s long history with its alliance and trading partner.
“The combination of Australia and the United States when we’re working together is an unbeatable combination,” he told business leaders in Seattle on Saturday.
Australian goods exports sent to the US market 10 per cent tariffs and – like all trading partners except the UK – there will be 50 per cent tariffs on aluminium and steel products.
Tariffs are generally passed on by importers to the citizens of the country imposing the tariffs, but can have the effect of reducing demand for the exporting country’s products.
The Labor government is considering using US beef imports and critical minerals as potential bargaining chips as it “engages constructively” with American officials.
Australians’ sense of safety and economic optimism has already plunged amid the talk of tariffs, as well as growing conflicts and global disorder, according to an annual Lowy Institute Poll.
Their trust in the US has fallen to the lowest level in the history of the decades-long poll, with two-in-three respondents holding little to no trust in the traditional Australian ally.
“Australians are clearly unsettled by what they’ve seen of the second Trump administration,” Lowy Institute executive director Michael Fullilove said.
Australia is not a member of the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations but was invited to the event by Mr Carney.
Mr Albanese previously met the Canadian prime minister on the margins of the Papal inauguration last month, but Sunday’s event will be their first formal bilateral discussion.
They are also expected to discuss defence, critical minerals, climate change and the escalating situation in the Middle East.
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