Downing Street has played down reports of a cabinet rift over the UK’s future trading relationship with Australia, as trade secretary Liz Truss pushes to secure a deal before the G7 summit next month. Truss is keen to throw open the UK market to Australian farmers, by slashing import tariffs on goods such as beef, lamb and sugar; while some of her cabinet colleagues, including Michael Gove, are anxious about the potential impact on British farmers. Boris Johnson had been expected to arbitrate between the two sides at a cabinet committee meeting on Thursday. Number 10 played down the significance of the meeting, insisting it was a routine update. “There are a regular series of meetings on not just this trade deal but the deals we have been working on throughout,” Johnson’s official spokesman said. But in what appeared to be a hint that Johnson had swung behind Truss, Downing Street said the prime minister was keen to “maximise the massive opportunities presented by post-Brexit trade deals”. Discussions are likely to continue in the coming days. Mujtaba Rahman, of political consultancy Eurasia Group, said, “I think Johnson instinctively and substantively is aligned with Truss, because I think he wants to champion the benefits of Brexit at every possible moment.” He added that a liberal deal on agriculture would also signal to the EU that the UK is resolute in its determination to avoiding aligning with EU food rules, despite the challenges created by the Northern Ireland protocol. The tussle underlines the competing interests the government will have to juggle, as it negotiates new post-Brexit trading relationships. National Farmers’ Union (NFU) president Minette Batters has warned there is a risk of “irreversible damage” to the farming sector. Any changes could be phased in over a decade or more, however, to limit the disruption to farmers. Truss sees a free trade agreement with Australia as the first step towards securing UK entry to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trade pact between 11 countries, including Japan, Canada and Mexico. “We’re seeing 66% of the world’s middle classes are going to be in Asia by 2030, growing demand for products like beef and lamb. So both Australian access and CPTTP access I think is positive for British farming,” Truss told MPs this week. The Australian agreement could also form the template for future negotiations on an agreement with the much larger economy of the United States, which would be likely to press for similarly generous access to the UK’s agriculture markets. Truss told MPs on Wednesday the deal would be good news for farmers. “I’ve been very clear with them [farmers] that of course I’m always looking to make sure, as I have committed to, that British farmers will not be undercut by unfair practices from elsewhere. We will make sure in all the deals we do that British farming thrives and I’m absolutely confident that will be achieved through the Australia deal.” Australia’s trade minister Dan Tehan has singled out agriculture as one area where Canberra would like to see the UK dismantle barriers to trade. In a Telegraph article last month he pointed to tariffs and quotas on imports of Australian beef and lamb to the UK, saying, “British consumers are missing out on choosing high quality, well-priced Australian products. What’s more, you’re missing out on eating the best lamb chops and porterhouse steak in the world.” Tehan also highlighted Australia’s desire to make it easier for services professionals to operate across the two countries, and for young Australians to come and work in the UK. Truss’s Department for International Trade has estimated that exports from the UK to Australia could increase by £900m as a result of a free trade deal. Exports to the EU were £11.6bn in February alone. The international trade secretary, a committed free trader, is the most popular senior minister among Conservative members, according to the most recent poll by the Tory website Conservative Home. Boris Johnson came nineteenth, just above his chief whip, Mark Spencer. Truss caused controversy last year by inviting the former Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, as a trade adviser, despite his record as a climate change sceptic.