EDITORIAL: After making good with China, Anthony Albanese must salvage the US relationship

That Anthony Albanese has managed to reset Australia’s relationship with China is perhaps the great achievement of his prime ministership to date.

It’s worth reminding oneself just how bad things were between us and our largest trading partner just a few short years ago.

Huge tariffs on agricultural products including barley, wine and cotton squeezed profit margins. De facto bans on beef, lobster and timber hit affected businesses hard. Coal exports to China fell from $13.7 billion in 2019 to virtually nothing the following year.

Chinese ministers weren’t taking taking calls from their Australian counterparts. When Mr Albanese eventually met with President Xi Jinping in Beijing in 2023, it ended a seven-year stint in the diplomatic deep freeze.

Fast forward to 2025 and things are decidedly warmer. Trade again flows across borders unimpeded by tariffs. That has been welcome news for Australian exporters who have regained access to a hungry market and to Australians more broadly as benefits flow through the economy.

Things aren’t all rosy: China has shown it is still keen to flex its military muscles through ostentatious displays of strength.

However relations at a ministerial level are vastly improved.

Mr Albanese heads back to China on Saturday where he is expected to meet with President Xi for the fourth time. On the agenda will be a welcome conversation about broadened trade opportunities.

However the Prime Minister’s abundance of face time with President Xi brings into stark relief Australia’s fraying relationship with the United States.

Mr Albanese is yet to meet with Donald Trump, seven months after his inauguration as US President.

And there is plenty the pair need to discuss. The 50 per cent tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium exports and 10 per cent tariffs on everything else.

The Pentagon’s “review” of the AUKUS defence deal on which Australia has pinned its security hopes. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s demands that Australia dramatically increase its military budget.

While our relations with the US — our most important strategic ally — are undoubtedly at their lowest ebb in recent memory, they haven’t hit the crisis point of our dealings with China.

But it is close.

Mr Albanese says he will keep trying to convince Mr Trump to carve out an exemption for Australian exporters. But he has also been quick to stress that the 10 per cent tariff on most Australian goods is equal to the best deal extended to any nation as Mr Trump pursues his isolationist trade agenda.

In other words: don’t hold your breath waiting for a better outcome.

Mr Albanese and his ministers need to apply the same diplomatic dexterity used to rebuild Australia’s relations with China to the ailing US relationship.

The Chinese example shows that it can be done, without kowtowing or major concessions.

Responsibility for the editorial comment is taken by Editor-in-Chief Christopher Dore.