Australia and France are set to pledge closer security ties when French President Emmanuel Macron arrives in Sydney on Tuesday but will also have to confront trade tensions with the US as confusion reigns over Donald Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs, reports The Sydney Morning News.
Mr Macron and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull are expected to discuss security in the Pacific, where France has significant interests and where both countries are concerned about rising Chinese influence.
A spokesman for Mr Turnbull said free trade and foreign interference - a key issue for the Turnbull government and also for France following Russian efforts to meddle with its last election - would be among topics the leaders discuss when the 40-year-old French president arrives.
"The PM and President will work together to confront terrorism, cyber attacks and foreign interference, while also advocating the importance of free trade," the spokesman said.
He said they would "discuss closer co-operation on defence, cyber-security, technology and trade".
The trade discussions will include talk of an Australia-European Union free trade agreement, which France reportedly views more warily than some other key EU member states.
But Mr Macron will also arrive under the shadow of a potential trans-Atlantic trade war, with temporary exemptions from Mr Trump’s tariffs for countries including Australia and France set to expire at 2pm on Tuesday and with no indication from Washington as to what happens next.
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The trade discussions will include talk of an Australia-European Union free trade agreement, which France reportedly views more warily than some other key EU member states.
But Mr Macron will also arrive under the shadow of a potential trans-Atlantic trade war, with temporary exemptions from Mr Trump’s tariffs for countries including Australia and France set to expire at 2pm on Tuesday and with no indication from Washington as to what happens next.