Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected a US trade body’s concerns over his nation’s biosecurity laws and subsidized medicine system, declaring that they are “not up for negotiation.”

A report from the US Trade Representative’s office released Monday was critical of Australia’s biosecurity regime, its pharmaceutical benefits scheme and measures to force US tech giants to pay for domestic news which they publish on their websites.

Responding to the report on Tuesday, Albanese said he wouldn’t revise any of Australia’s policies despite pressure from the US administration.

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“Those issues are not up for negotiation from the Australian government. We will defend Australia’s interests. The idea that we would weaken biosecurity laws is really, as my Mum would say, cutting off your nose to spite your face,” Albanese said in Adelaide. “Not on my watch.”

The annual US National Trade Estimate report, which was released in Washington ahead of President Donald Trump's plan to announce new tariffs on Wednesday, identified Australia's biosecurity, pharmaceutical and news bargaining laws as unresolved issues affecting American exports.

Australia's strict biosecurity laws prohibit the import of uncooked American beef, pork and poultry products, as well as apples and pears, to protect native wildlife from foreign diseases.

In addition to biosecurity, Monday's report from the US Trade Representative raised concerns over Australia's pharmaceutical laws and the news media bargaining code, which requires social media giants such as Google and Meta to pay for Australian news content hosted on their platforms.

Peter Dutton, leader of the opposition Coalition and the alternative prime minister, said he agrees with Albanese's position on not negotiating on the issues raised in the new report.

"I will stand up for our country's interests every day if I am given the great honor of being prime minister," he said.

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Trump has declared April 2 as “Liberation Day,” when he’s due to announce reciprocal tariffs on a number of nations as part of an effort to revitalize US domestic industry. The threat of upheaval in global supply chains and trade is casting a shadow over Australia’s election campaign ahead of a vote on May 3.

A poll published by Nine Entertainment newspapers on Tuesday found that 60 percent of Australians believe Trump's second term has been a bad outcome for Australia, up from 40 percent who said the same following the US election in November 2024.

Forty-six percent of respondents to the poll agreed that Australia should form closer relations with other countries in the region, in response to Trump's actions since taking office, with 19 percent disagreeing.

Asked about the AUKUS defense agreement, 34 percent of respondents agreed Australia should pause or withdraw from the pact, compared to 25 percent who disagreed and 41 percent who were undecided or neutral.

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Speaking at the National Press Club on Tuesday, former center-right Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Australia needed to boost its sovereign military capabilities in response to the growing unreliability of its longtime ally, the US.

“The US under President Trump does not share the values we’ve shared with every single one of his predecessors, Republican and Democrat, for over 80 years. And he does not pretend to share them,” Turnbull said in Canberra.

With Xinhua inputs