LIVE: Election 2025 – Pay rise on the way for millions of Aussies as impending Trump tariffs overshadow campaign

Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ is set to eclipse Australian leaders’ campaign efforts, as the US president’s latest wave of tariffs are unleashed.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will be on the fifth day of their cross-country election blitz when Trump unveils sweeping tariffs that, he warns, will affect ‘all countries’.

Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton have tried to keep the campaigns focused on domestic issues like health and government services.

But the unpredictability and ferocity of Trump’s second-term decisions have made voters increasingly concerned about the impact on Australia, and raises questions over which leader will be better placed to handle the volatile president.

Australia has already been slugged with 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium.

A report released by Trump’s office on the eve of ‘Liberation Day’ showed the US was keeping an eye on trade barriers imposed on American goods – such as beef, pork, chicken, apples and pears – that are aimed at preventing pests and viruses from arriving in Australia.

The document also pointed to issues over Australia’s treatment of pharmaceutical patents and its news media bargaining code, which requires tech platforms to pay media organisations for their content.

But Mr Albanese insists biosecurity, the pharmaceutical subsidy scheme and the media code are not up for negotiation.

While no country has scored a carve-out from US tariffs, Mr Dutton has continued to claim he would be best placed to deal with Trump.

When asked whether global leaders could secure exemptions, White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt (pictured, above) insisted that Trump was ‘always up’ for a phone call or ‘good negotiation’.

‘But he is very much focused on fixing the wrongs of the past and showing that American workers have a fair share,’ she told reporters.