Trump celebrates end of Australia's US beef ban, will use it to pressure other nations

The Age

5 days ago

President Donald Trump will use the Albanese government's decision to allow North American beef into the country to pressure other countries to capitulate in trade talks, as his administration seized on the change to argue Australia's biosecurity rules had never been scientific.
The Trump administration hailed the deal, announced on Thursday, as a win even as analysts said the step was unlikely to significantly boost US shipments because beef prices are much lower in Australia.
'The other Countries that refuse our magnificent Beef are ON NOTICE,' Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Thursday. 'All of our Nation's Ranchers, who are some of the hardest working and most wonderful people, are smiling today, which means I am smiling too. Let's keep the Hot Streak going. IT'S THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA!'
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has attempted to renegotiate trade deals with multiple countries who he asserts have taken advantage of the United States over the
years. Many economists have disputed Trump's characterisation.
Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said on Thursday that a 'rigorous science and risk-based assessment' had concluded that US measures to monitor and control the movement
of cattle meant biosecurity risks that Australia was previously concerned about were being effectively managed.
She said the decision had been made by her department after a decade long review process and denied it was connected to trade talks with the United States, which has imposed a 10 per cent tariff on Australian imports.
Meat from animals born, raised and slaughtered in the US has been allowed into Australia since 2019. But few suppliers were able to prove their animals had been only in the US, because cattle frequently moved between the US, Canada and Mexico without being adequately tracked.
Under the new rules, cattle born in all three countries and legally slaughtered in the US will be allowed into Australia, but farming groups have raised concerns about cows from Central American countries such as Guatemala that have poor biosecurity controls entering the supply chain illicitly.