As Albanese plans Trump talks, Jim is worried about his farm
Farmers fear Australia will open its borders to beef from Mexico and Canada, as the Albanese government seeks an exemption from Donald Trump's tariffs without buckling to US complaints over its teen social media ban and big tech crackdown.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to meet Trump later this month, sparking warnings from farmers that there must be no compromise on biosecurity to appease the White House, after this masthead revealed on Friday that a biosecurity review could let North American beef into Australia.
While US farmers have been permitted to export locally grown beef to Australia since 2019, none has been sent. Instead, the US industry wants access for all the beef in its supply chain, including from stock raised in Mexico and Canada but slaughtered in the US.
Biosecurity officials have not approved imports from these countries, and Albanese said on Friday that Australia would not compromise its biosecurity status even as he opened the door to restarting beef exports.
'We'll never loosen any rules regarding our biosecurity,' he told ABC Melbourne. 'If things can be sorted out in a way that protects our biosecurity – of course, we don't just say no.'
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Agriculture sector representatives were briefed on Friday by government officials. They did not reveal details of how Australia could change its rules to accommodate the US beef supply chain, but said the review would be finalised soon.
Industry sources speaking on the condition of anonymity said the only way Albanese could appease the Trump administration, without changing Australia's biosecurity rules, would be if the current review paved the way for all the beef in their supply chain to be sent to Australia.
National Farmers Federation president David Jochinke said Australia's disease-free status was crucial for the red meat sector, which depends on its clean reputation to export around 75 per cent of its product overseas.
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