Australia reaffirmed its allegiance with the United States on the AUKUS deal during a phone call between Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump, but appears to have made little progress on tariffs.

The controversial, multi-billion-dollar submarine pact was bolstered when the two leaders had a “lengthy and extensive” phone conversation late on Thursday night (AEST).

“We agreed it (AUKUS) was a project that is and will continue to deliver benefits for the United States, for Australia, and for the United Kingdom,” Albanese said.

The pair discussed the second pillar of the program, which includes enabling systems for uncrewed undersea vehicles.

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The call came just hours after Pentagon official and former AUKUS sceptic Elbridge Colby confirmed the mega deal was “full steam ahead” to journalists.

Colby, who is the US under-secretary of war, originally wrote what was perceived to be a skeptical review of the submarine deal before revising his writing to be more in line with Trump’s view.

The Pentagon recently admitted construction of US Virginia-class nuclear submarines was languishing at about 1.1 to 1.2 boats a year, when 2.33 of them need to be made annually to meet AUKUS requirements.

Despite the “warm” chat, Albanese appeared to make little headway on ridding Australia of US tariffs.

“I always put forward Australia’s national interest during these discussions, and the ask that I made of the President is that he consider full exemption, or at the very least, no increase,” the Prime Minister told media.

Trump said he would consider the request, according to Albanese.

The US imposes a baseline 12.5 per cent tariff on Australian goods, which came into effect in July.

Albanese has spoken with Trump at least five times since becoming prime minister. They have also met in person.

–with AAP