The US needs Australian beef for hamburgers, Littleproud says
Anthony Albanese should play hardball with the US on beef as tariff talks grind on, Nationals leader David Littleproud says.
American beef imports have emerged as a key negotiating item in the Albanese government's efforts to secure a tariff carve out.
The Trump administration has been pushing for Australia to loosen import rules to include beef from cattle originating in Canada and Mexico but slaughtered in the US.
The Prime Minister has confirmed biosecurity officials were reviewing the request but vowed his government would not 'compromise' Australia's strict bio laws.
But the prospect of changing laws has sparked unease among cattle farmers worried about keeping bovine diseases well away from the country's shores.
With beef imports seemingly key to securing a US tariff exemption, Mr Littleproud on Monday said there needed to be some 'perspective'.
'The United States does need Australia and other countries to import beef to be able to put on their hamburgers,' he told Sky News.
'They don't have the production capacity to be able to produce the type of beef that goes on their hamburgers.
'So this is a tax on themselves that they put on Australian beef.'
Despite being subject to the blanket 10 per cent tariffs on foreign imports, Australian beef into the US has risen by 32 per cent this year, according to Meat and Livestock Australia.
Meanwhile, the cost of domestically produced beef within the US has been climbing, as cattle farmers struggle with drought.
Mr Littleproud said the Nationals were not against importing American beef provided that it was from cattle 'born in the United States and bred all the way through to their slaughter in the United States'.
But beef from cattle originating in third countries was a risk because 'we don't have the traceability that we have over the US production system'.
'And that's why Anthony Albanese needed to rule out straight away that he would not open that up to those cattle that were born in Canada, Mexico, or anywhere else in the Americas, because that poses a significant risk unless we can trace those cattle,' Mr Littleproud said.
Mr Albanese has been clear in saying he would 'never loosen any rules regarding our biosecurity'.
But he has also said that if a deal can be struck 'in a way that protects our biosecurity, of course we don't just say no'.
Mr Littleproud acknowledged Mr Albanese's words but said 'when you see reports from departments saying this is what's on the table in terms of negotiations – where there's smoke, there's fire'.
In addition to the baseline 10 per cent duties on foreign goods, Australia has also been subjected to 50 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium.
Only the UK has been able to secure a partial exemption from the Donald Trump's tariffs.
A key UK concession was scrapping its 20 per cent imposts on American beef and raising the import quota to 13,000 metric tonnes.
But with many British goods still subject to tariffs, analysts have questioned whether the deal was worth it.
The US has trade surpluses with both the UK and Australia.
Though, Australia also has a free-trade agreement with the US, meaning goods should be traded mostly uninhibited.
The Albanese government has repeatedly criticised Mr Trump's decision to slap tariffs on Australian products as 'economic self-harm' and 'not the act of a friend'.
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