Senior government sources, unauthorised to speak about Australia’s manoeuvring to avoid “Liberation Day” trade barriers, said there was little hope of winning any exemptions from what could be 20 per cent tariffs on exports to the US. Ahead of Trump’s pronouncement on Thursday that could upend the Australian election campaign, the US administration has made clear it views Australia’s subsidised medicine scheme, a code forcing tech firms to pay for news, and food biosecurity rules as non-tariff trade barriers that hurt the profits of US companies. After Trump won the 2016 election, it was Norman who passed on Trump’s phone number to then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull so that the two could talk, following a request by then-ambassador Joe Hockey, also a friend of Norman’s. Trump and Norman have played golf together over the years and Trump has expressed admiration for the 70-year-old known as “the Shark”. This masthead reported in January that Norman was being used as a go-between for US and Australian officials.