Aust spruiks trade benefits to US

Australia is using every possible avenue to convince the new Trump administration of the benefits to the US of sticking with free and open trade.

Trade Minister Steve Ciobo says there have been conversations at all levels of engagement - officials, ambassadors, ministers and "elected prime minister to elected president" - about why the US needs to remain engaged with trade and with Asia in particular.

"My advocacy, the prime minister's advocacy, and the foreign minister Julie Bishop's advocacy has been about the real, significant importance of maintaining open and free trade as much as possible," he told Sky News on Sunday.

New president Donald Trump has threatened a "border tax" on imports to the US and has flagged the possibility of imposing a 20 per cent tariff on goods from Mexico to pay for building a wall between the two countries.

One of his first moves in office was to pull the US out of the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, to which Australia was party.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale, whose party opposed the TPP, says while people around the world are concerned about international trade that solely benefits multinational corporations, "this is absolutely the wrong direction for the US to be taking".

He believes the moves could lead the US into "economic ruination".

"This isn't where the world needs to be heading," he told Sky News

"We need trade with our partners, it needs to be fair trade, it needs to be trade that's in the interests of all people."

Mr Ciobo says at the World Trade Organisation meeting he attended earlier this month there was a loud and clear consensus among trade ministers.

"There is a high level commitment among all of us to make sure we can continue to grow international trade because we all recognise that trade and growth in trade is crucial for driving economic growth, which is crucial for getting people back in employment," he said.