The US Secretary of State has expressed regret that President Donald Trump had to cancel a meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the G7 summit Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Wednesday Senator Wong said she had very positive talks with Marco Rubio in a bilateral exchange at the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad in Washington where foreign ministers from Australia the US Japan and India are discussing strategic challenges in the IndoPacific Mr Rubio did not repeat demands by the Trump administration for Australia to raise its defence spending to 35 per cent of GDP but they had talked about the benefits of the AUKUS nuclearpowered submarine program and US trade tariffs she said Positive signals from the Trump administration about the trilateral AUKUS defence agreement between the US UK and Australia will be welcomed in Canberra where there has been unease about a 30day snap Pentagon review to assess the programs alignment with Mr Trumps America First agenda What we talked about was our partnership and the ways in which we work together We obviously talked about the AUKUS agreement and the benefits that it gives all three countries she told ABC Breakfast TV Senator Wong said she had made clear Australias longheld position that it deserves a carveout from the sweeping 10 per cent levy on all goods and 50 per cent on steel and aluminium We enable US goods to enter our country tarifffree and we continue to advocate for that USAustralia Free Trade Agreement to also be observed by the administration she said Senator Wongs trip to the US comes as domestic political pressure mounts on the Prime Minister to secure a oneonone meeting with Mr Trump Previously scheduled face time between the two leaders on the margins of the G7 summit in Canada earlier this month was postponed after Mr Trump had to return abruptly to Washington to deal with escalating conflict between Israel and Iran I explained to him we understood that the President had to leave early Senator Wong said And were both looking forward to a rescheduled meeting between our two leaders That meeting could take place at a leaders level Quad summit due to be hosted by India later this year This weeks Quad meeting the second such gathering since US President Donald Trumps inauguration in January drew together Mr Rubio Senator Wong Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyan Jaishankar As the foreign ministers arrived for talks Mr Rubio praised the US very important strategic partners stressing shared priorities to deal with global problems But he also stressed the aim to make the Quad a vehicle for action beyond a forum for discussion and also highlighted Washingtons goal to diversify the global supply chain of critical minerals This should focus not just on access to the raw material but also access to the ability to process and refine it to useable material he said Its critical for all technologies and for all industries across the board And so having a diverse and reliable global supply chain of these is just one example of many that we can focus on and build upon and achieve some real progress on said Mr Rubio Australia has previously floated the idea of using its critical minerals wealth as leverage in trade talks In her own opening comments Senator Wong underlined the importance of the partnership between four countries which represent nearly a quarter of the worlds population and over a third of global GDP against a backdrop of conflict and escalating competition It has never been more important for us to harness our collective strength and peace for stability for prosperity in the IndoPacific and for all our peoples she said We are stronger when we work together Whether its when we respond to emergencies or all cooperating on issues which are critical to the regions security and prosperity such as technology supply chains and maritime security she said