Australia will not negotiate with the Trump administration on domestic rules that force US tech companies to pay for Australian news, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday.
It followed the Australian rules being flagged as US trade barriers to be monitored by a big tech friendly Trump administration, as it prepares sweeping tariffs globally this week.
“We are not negotiating over the news bargaining code,” Mr Albanese said while rejecting the trade complaints from the campaign trail in Adelaide.
The code is among several grievances in a new encyclopaedic list of foreign countries’ policies and regulations the Trump administration regards as trade barriers.
Plans for local content quotas in streaming services, Australia’s strict agricultural biosecurity system, and NSW’s refusal to compensate US investors over a cancelled mining licence are also listed.
The News Media Bargaining Code was implemented in 2021 and acts as a backstop to commercial negotiations between news publishers and online platforms.
The code allows the Treasurer to designate a platform company like Google or Meta, subjecting them to obligations under the code, including forced arbitration.
No platform has ever been designated, but the code has spurred deals between Google and Meta with news publishers worth more than $200 million.
Google continues to pay publishers under the deals, but Meta last year announced it is not renewing its agreements, opening up a potential designation.
The Albanese government has also announced a complementary News Media Bargaining Incentive that will force the platforms to pay up front and allow the government to redistribute it if deals aren’t reached.
However, the election of Donald Trump saw the incentive put on the backburner and now the code is being singled out as an unfair trade barrier.
“The United States continues to monitor this issue,” the new list, published on Tuesday, said.
The US will also “continue to monitor” the Albanese government’s plans to force streaming services like US giants Netflix and Amazon Prime to show minimum levels of Australian content.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the News Media Bargaining Code, biosecurity rules and Australia’s pharmaceutical system will not be weakened.
“Those issues are not up for negotiation from the Australian government. We will defend Australia’s interests,” Mr Albanese said.
Donald Trump is expected to unveil sweeping global tariffs on April 2, a day he has declared “Liberation Day”.
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