Defence Minister Richard Marles has met his US counterparts in Washington DC overnight for crucial talks.

His talks with US Vice President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio comes amid a vital period in the Canberra-Washington relationship.

The Trump administration is completing a review of the AUKUS pact, under which Australia will acquire nuclear-powered, but not armed, submarines from the US and Britain.

It would deliver Australia at least eight submarines including three to five second-hand US Virginia-class submarines. Britain and Australia would co-operate to build their own SSN-AUKUS submarines.

But in June, Hegseth announced the Pentagon was launching a review into the AUKUS agreement.

There are concerns that the US won’t provide Australia with its first Virginia-class submarine by the early 2030s as planned because American submarine building was behind schedule.

The AUKUS review is expected to be completed within the next weeks.

The Australian government confirmed in late July it had paid the Trump administration a second $800 million instalment on the AUKUS deal. The first $800 million was paid in February.

The submarines are expected cost Australia up to $380 billion.

The Trump administration is also pushing Australia to raise its defence spending as the US seeks to meet China’s military might in the Indo-Pacific.

Hegseth and other US officials have urged Australia to lift its defence budget from 2 per cent to 3.5 per cent.

But the federal government has pushed back, insisting Australia will stick with its own budget process for the armed forces.