In a heated exchange, Warner pressed Greer further. “We have a free trade agreement,” he said. “They are an incredibly important national security partner. Why were they whacked with a tariff?”

Greer replied: “Despite the agreement, they ban our beef, they ban our pork, they’re getting ready to impose measures on our digital companies. It’s incredible.”

Warner said Greer’s answer was disappointing. “The idea that we are going to whack friend and foe alike, and particularly friends, with this level [of tariffs] is both insulting to the Australians, undermines our national security and frankly makes us not a good partner going forward,” he said.

Following the Senate hearing, Warner noted the AUKUS pact and said Australia must be considering whether it could depend on the United States after being hit with Trump’s tariffs.

“We’re supposed to be doing this major deal around jointly building submarines,” he said. “I think they and all of our allies are rethinking whether we can be counted on as a partner.”

Despite the US’s long-running trade surplus with Australia, figures from the Bureau of Statistics released on Thursday showed for a second successive month, Australia sold more to America than it received in imports.

The surplus of $1.1 billon in February was again driven by huge purchases of gold by American investors which has helped drive the price of the precious metal to all-time highs.

Earlier in the hearing, Greer repeated long-standing grievances about Australia’s refusal to accept exports of American beef and pork – a claim that is partially disputed by Canberra – after being questioned about it by a Republican senator from Texas, John Cornyn.

“It’s always surprising because we have a free trade agreement with Australia, and we would expect that we’d have fair, reciprocal trade,” Greer said. “It’s not just beef. Australia also blocks – on specious, fake science, grounds – the export of fresh and frozen US pork. It’s incredible that they do this.”

Australia banned imports of American beef in 2003 due to concerns about mad cow disease, and the free trade agreement was enacted in 2005. The ban on fresh US beef was technically lifted in 2019, but imports remain at zero due to concerns about American beef being sourced from elsewhere and integrated into the supply chain.

The grievance has been consistently raised in trade negotiations over the years, including in talks with the Trump administration. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the country would not budge on biosecurity.

“Australia does not ban imports of beef from the United States,” Australia’s Department of Agriculture said in a statement. “Import conditions into Australia are currently available for beef products sourced from cattle born, raised and slaughtered in the US.

“The US has requested to expand its access to the Australian market to include beef products sourced from cattle from Mexico and Canada and legally imported into the US for export.

“Australia’s assessment for this additional US request is progressing. US exporters have not commenced trade under the existing import conditions into Australia in the meantime.”

The baseline 10 per cent tariff for almost all US trading partners began on the weekend. The so-called reciprocal tariffs, which go beyond 10 per cent, are due to start on Wednesday in the US.

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US tariffs on China will also increase another 50 per cent to a cumulative total of 104 per cent, after China refused to comply with Trump’s demand to withdraw its own retaliatory tariffs.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said despite “fearmongering by the media”, nearly 70 countries had made contact with the administration to open trade negotiations.

“Countries are falling over themselves to reform their unfair trade practices and free open their markets to our country. Why? Because these countries greatly respect President Trump and the sheer power of the American market,” she said.

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