Obama unable to strike trade deal: Truss

Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss doesn't believe US President Barack Obama will ever be able to secure a free trade deal with China.

Mr Truss told coalition MPs at a party room meeting in Canberra there had never been a time where Australia had been so "dominant" on the international stage.

Proof of this was the securing of free trade deals with China, Korea and Japan, he said on Tuesday.

Mr Truss said Mr Obama, who recently visited Brisbane for the G20 summit, had been "peeved" that Australia secured an FTA with China.

It was something the US president "would never be able to get", he said.

Treasurer Joe Hockey told the same meeting the FTAs would not have been secured without the coalition government withdrawing assistance to industries such as car manufacturing.