Amid Trump tariffs, Australia minister bats for stronger trade deal with India, rare earth supply chain

At a time when the India-US trade deal is facing challenges, he batted for a stronger trade pact with India, and supported investments by the Adani group in mining in Queensland and Uranium exports to India.

In an interaction with visiting Indian journalists, he said: “Australia is keen to increase investment in India. Like Australia, India is a thriving democracy, and we want to work with countries like India to boost our two-way trade and to boost our investment… We see great opportunities in India.”

“Living standards are improving very quickly, and by 2030 you will have something in the vicinity of 900 million people in the middle class… as people’s living standards increase, then their demand for high quality food and wine also increases, and we see fantastic opportunities for Australia.”

“Australia is often described as the lucky country, and in terms of the minerals, critical minerals and rare earths are going to be needed to make the transition to net zero, and Australia is lucky again. We have the world’s largest or second largest reserves of all of those critical minerals and rare earths. We want to share our good luck with the people of India… improve the supply chain between Australia and India.”

On the potential trade deal, the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation agreement, he said: “We sent our top negotiator to New Delhi and I think we had a productive week of discussions. I had two Zoom calls with minister Piyush Goyal, and I have been trying to talk again this week. I am confident that the goodwill between ourselves and India, plus the current international circumstances where those countries that believe in free and fair trade need to expand their relationship will result in another further extension of our agreement with India…. I am looking forward to heading over to India to sign such an agreement, or inviting minister Goyal to come to Australia to do so.”

On the tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration, he said: “We are a country that believes in free and fair trade. We believe that the best way of ensuring prosperity for our workers and our country is to continue with free, fair and open trade. So we don’t support the imposition of tariffs, whether they be on Australia or India. Your relationship with the United States is something for you to work through. But only this week, I have met with officials of the US government to make it clear that our view is that the 10% tariff that we have imposed on Australia is not the right way to go.”

On the possible imports of uranium, he said: “I come from South Australia, and Olympic Dam is the world’s largest uranium mine, and BHP has an ambition to double the size of that mine… we have the opportunity to continue to supply uranium to those countries that meet all the relevant international obligations.”

On challenges being faced by Australian companies in India, he said: “I think the biggest challenge that Australian companies face when they go into India is that, like in Australia, you have got a federal structure, and you can reach agreements as to how the federal structure might work, but then you have states, and the states have additional rules and regulations which you have to comply with… You have got to be a bit persistent. You can get advice about what the challenges are, but you are going to have to devote some resources into getting your foot in the door. Indians are tough negotiators, in my experience, and we have to show that we can comply with all your regulations. We can set up business there, and we can make a contribution to your economy, but also a profitable investment from our point of view. So my advice to companies is to come and talk to us. Australia is expanding its operations in our region. We want to do more business. We want to diversify. We have discovered that if you put all your eggs in the one basket, then you can suffer damage if circumstances change.”

(The reporter is in Australia at the invitation of the Australian Foreign Ministry)