Penny Wong accuses Peter Dutton of 'reckless arrogance' as Labor and Coalition engage in fiery debate over Trump's tariffs

Ms Wong told Sky News Australia's chief news anchor Kieran Gilbert on Thursday that Mr Dutton had displayed "reckless arrogance", after he declared only a Coalition government would be in a better position to secure a tariff exemption from Washington DC.

The President earlier confirmed the imposition of 10 per cent tariffs on all Australian goods into the United States, as part of his administration's "historic" tariffs on allies and foes.

Mr Dutton said it was crucial "to start negotiations with the United States straight away" in response to the decision, as he believed "there can be a deal done very quickly with the administration".

The Opposition Leader also suggested reaching a deal on critical minerals was an "absolute must-do" in order to pursue negotiations on trade.

"Peter Dutton seems to think he's Superman but he's actually Captain Obvious. He suggests that this is a time for negotiation, well that is what we have been doing," Ms Wong said.

"He suggests we should be discussing critical minerals, I'm sure he would recall, it's been quite public, that is what we have been doing.

"We'll proceed, as the Prime Minister indicated in his press conference today, with creating a strategic reserve, and we'll have more to say about that.

"But really what we saw from Mr Dutton today is more reckless arrogance, we saw him today talking down Australia, we saw him again recklessly carping at a time when Australians need us to stand together, stand up for Australia. But he can't bring himself to do it."

Mr Dutton told reporters there was "no doubt" a Coalition government "would have had greater connection and greater communication with the White House".

He said Mr Albanese's inability to secure a phone call with President Trump, coupled with reports that US ambassador Kevin Rudd struggled to meet with the White House, demonstrates a deteriorating relationship between nations.

"The Prime Minister has to get a phone call now and make sure that Kevin Rudd can get into the West Wing, make sure there's a discussion about how we can enhance this relationship," Mr Dutton said.

"I think there can be a deal done very quickly with the (Trump) administration, and I think it's important the Prime Minister apply himself to that immediately.

"It's obvious that the Prime Minister didn't know anything about this announcement until it was actually released to the press, which also speaks to the state of the relationship at the moment."

Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell pressed Mr Dutton about how he would be successful in negotiating out of the tariffs given Trade Minister Don Farrell had already attempted to strike a deal over critical minerals.

The United States relies on critical minerals found in Australia that are used in the manufacturing of defence industry equipment.

Clennell asked whether he was kowtowing to the United States.

"If you look at what we were able to do in government, we were able to negotiate an outcome with Trump," Mr Dutton said.

"A Coalition government got access to the administration... This Prime Minister hasn't been able to do that."

At least 60 countries have been affected by the tariffs, such as China, the UK, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Israel, the UAE, Myanmar, Laos and Egypt.

Australia was hit with the "minimum baseline" of 10 per cent, instead of earlier fears it could be double that figure.

"This is a poor decision for the US consumer because what it will mean is that goods from other countries will be more expensive for Americans, which is why we are not going to put in place retaliatory tariffs," Ms Wong said.

"One of the reasons we have supported fair and free trade, more open trading arrangements, predictable trading arrangements, is because we think it enables stability.

"We think this is a poor decision but... it's one that we anticipated was coming. And you can see no country had a better outcome than Australia.

"We would have preferred no tariffs at all, that would have been consistent both with our friendship, but also, our trading relationship."

President Trump specifically referred to Australian beef in his announcement, with American beef restricted from reaching Australian shores due to strict biosecurity regulations, after mad cow disease was detected in 2003. 

"Australia bans, and they're wonderful people and wonderful everything, but they ban American beef. Yet we imported $3 billion of Australian beef from them just last year alone. They won't take any of our beef," he said.

Mr Albanese condemned the latest round of tariffs as "totally unwarranted" and "not the act of a friend" earlier on Thursday.

"President Trump referred to reciprocal tariffs, a reciprocal tariff would be zero, not 10 per cent. The administration's tariffs have no basis in logic, and they go against the basis of our two nations' partnership. This is not the act of a friend," he said.