Anthony Albanese responded to the U.S. concerns over China, while repaying Donald Trump’s call for measures to double tariffs on steel and aluminum.

On Saturday, Pete Hegseth urged allies in the region, including Australia, to "share the burden" and increase defense spending to 5% of GDP, warning that "Beijing is reliably preparing to use military power to change the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific."

"There is no reason to add sugar to it. The threat posed by China is real and it may be imminent," he said.

Albanis said Australia has committed to making additional investments in the Ministry of Defense and will “determine our defense policy.”

"We will determine our defense policy, and we have invested in (the next four years) and that's another $10 billion in defense. All we have to do is continue to invest in our capabilities and our relationships in the region," the prime minister said on Sunday.

“Our position on Taiwan is very obvious and has been a long time, and this is a bipartisan position that supports the status quo.”

Australia is expected to increase its defense spending to 2.4% of GDP in 2033-34, compared with about 2% now.

Pentagon Deputy Secretary Elbridge Colby had previously told the U.S. Senate hearing Australia's defense spending threshold of 3%.

Before Hegseth's speech in Singapore, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles was reluctant to make a number of increases in defense spending, but he said it was "a conversation we are very willing to have".

U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he will go from 25% to 50% on June 4 to "further secure" the country's domestic industries.

Albanese reiterated on Sunday that Trump's decision was "economic self-harm" and "inappropriate" for American consumers.

Trade Minister Don Farrell said Australia would "convince" the United States from universal tariffs.

"We will argue calmly and calmly about the case where we delete these tariffs," he said.

Energy Secretary Chris Bowen told ABC insiders on Sunday, including the World Trade Organization controversy, but the first step was to discuss it with the United States.

Trump has said he would "extremely considerate" to exempt Australia from steel and aluminum tariffs in February, but ultimately decided not to exempt it.

Albanis is expected to be re-elected at Canada's G7 Leaders' Summit later this month as both leaders meet with Trump.

Shadow Finance Minister James Paterson said the U.S. decision was "harmful" to relations with Australia and the Prime Minister needed to "stand firmly defend" Australia's interests.

"(Albanians) should file a case with the president, both of why these tariffs are unwise and unreasonable, especially why they are unreasonable in Australia, with countries with which the U.S. has a trade surplus," he told Sky News on Sunday.

Australia exports relatively little steel to the United States. About 2.5% of US aluminum imports come from Australia, but that's less than 10% of Australia's total metal exports.

National leader David Littleproud said Albanese should convince Trump about the seriousness of the decision and return to the "rules-based trade order."

"We have a compelling case to carve out. Even if you eliminate the whole insanity of the tariff due to our relationship, and we just gave up the check with the US submarines."