Australia will not return fire if the US follows through on its trade tariffs, a senior minister says.
The 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium come into effect on March 12, leaving Australia one month to convince US counterparts to grant the nation's exporters an exemption.
China and Canada responded to similar US trade moves with their own counter-tariffs, though the latter has paused its retaliation after striking a deal with US President Donald Trump.
Asked if Australia would follow in their footsteps, cabinet minister Ed Husic brushed off the suggestion.
"If we start down this path, it would take years - if not decades - to unpick," the industry and science minister told the National Press Club on Wednesday.
"There are only a couple of places in the world that make aluminium - Australia is one.
"A country that is a strong ally, that has a strong relationship with the US and that is right across from the Pacific and has been providing product that has been in high demand on the west coast - there's a whole lot of compelling reasons why we can work closer together without the imposition of tariffs."
Australia was granted an exemption to tariffs in 2018 when Malcolm Turnbull was prime minister and Mr Trump was serving his first term in the White House.
In his proclamation signing the latest tariffs into effect, Mr Trump accused Australia of abusing a "verbal commitment to voluntarily restrain its aluminium exports to a reasonable level".
That refers to an informal deal for an aluminium export cap, supposedly agreed to by Mr Turnbull's successor Scott Morrison but for which the Australian government has no written record.
Mr Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro told CNN that Australia was "killing" America's aluminium market through its imports.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers dismissed the accusation and said the government was focused on what's in front of it, not what happened almost a decade ago.
"No doubt that the colleagues will try and get to the bottom of what's being said here," Dr Chalmers told ABC Radio.
After a phone call with Mr Albanese, Mr Trump said he would give Australia's case for an exemption "great consideration", adding it was one of the few nations with which the US runs a trade surplus.
In Portland, on Victoria's southwest coast, the local aluminium smelter directly employs about 600 workers and just as many contractors in a town of 10,000.
"The importance of the smelter to us, to the local economy, is just huge," Glenelg Shire mayor Karen Stephens told AAP.
"This just throws that spanner in the works and gives that uncertainty."
Australia's aluminium and steel industries support more than 175,000 jobs and contribute $47 billion to the national economy each year.
BlueScope is the only Australian steel producer with substantial exports to the US, according to the Australian Steel Institute.
However, fears other nations will dump cheaper products in Australia could have a big impact on the entire local sector.
Communities in the Georgetown area of northern Tasmania are likely exposed to the tariff threat more than most, according to Mayor Greg Keiser.
Two smelters at Bell Bay, which make aluminium and manganese used in steel, are the two biggest businesses in the council area.
Mr Keiser estimates 30 per cent of smelter workers live in his municipality of 7500 people and believes most are apprehensive Australia can secure an exemption as it did in Mr Trump's first term.
But the direct and indirect effects could be unclear until the tariffs were implemented, said Business Hunter chief executive Bob Hawes.
The peak business group in NSW's Hunter region is home to Australia's biggest aluminium smelter at Tomago.
"So a lot of uncertainty is a consequence, which is not a good thing for business or governments for that matter," Mr Hawes told AAP.
