PM says Australia has 'ideological disagreement' with US after it reveals anti-slavery tariff

Anthony Albanese says the tariff is inconsistent with free trade agreements. (ABC News: Stuart Carnegie)

The United States is planning to impose a 12.5 per cent tariff on goods from Australia, alleging the country has failed to take action to prevent slavery and forced labour.

Anthony Albanese says any tariff on Australian exports to the US is "unjustified and inconsistent" with the free trade agreements between the two allies.

Former Australian ambassador to the US Joe Hockey says Donald Trump is convinced that tariffs are beneficial to the US.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has declared Australia has an "ideological disagreement" with the United States, after the US revealed a plan to impose a 12.5 per cent tariff on exported goods from the junior ally.

The US plans to slap the new tariff on dozens of countries for allegedly failing to "address the importation of goods made with forced labour".

It is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to hit nations with import taxes since the US Supreme Court struck down 10 per cent tariffs that impacted Australian imports in February.

The tariffs would replace the Trump administration's global 10 per cent temporary import surcharge. (AP Photo: Evan Vucci)

Mr Albanese said any tariff on Australian exports to the US was "unjustified and inconsistent" with the free trade agreements between the two allies.

"There is an ideological disagreement where the United States administration has broken with what was a decades-long understanding that tariffs are not positive for the country that is imposing them," Mr Albanese said.

"They increase the cost of goods and services in the country that is applying them to its consumers, and … free trade is in the interests of the global economy."

US trade representative Jamieson Greer said the alleged failure to ban products produced with forced labour created a "dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field".

Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell met with Mr Greer on the sidelines of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) meeting in Paris overnight, where Mr Farrell told him the tariffs were "unjustified".

The tariffs apply to more than 50 countries and replace, and slightly increase, the US global 10 per cent temporary import surcharge which expires in July.

Mr Albanese said Australia had world-leading legislation addressing forced labour and modern slavery that passed through parliament with unanimous support.

Mr Albanese also highlighted the point, which US President Donald Trump has al