US-Australia beef: what you need to know about tariffs and the meat trade war

Donald Trump did not impose any special penalties on Australia beyond a baseline 10% tariff on goods exported to the US.

But Trump did single out the Australian beef industry in his speech preceding his tariffs announcement. “Australia bans – and they’re wonderful people – but they ban American beef,” the US president said.

The US, Trump said, imported $3bn of Australian beef “last year alone”. He then took aim at Australia’s biosecurity rules restricting import of US beef.

“They won’t take any of our beef. They don’t want it because they don’t want it to affect their farmers and, you know, I don’t blame them, but we’re doing the same thing right now, starting at midnight tonight.”

Here’s what you need to know about Australian rules governing beef imports.

Does Australia ban US beef imports?

Australia introduced a ban on US beef imports in 2003, in response to an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease.

It was technically lifted in 2019, subject to an ongoing biosecurity review that in practice means no imports of fresh beef. The sticking point is the US’s reliance on live cattle imports from Canada and Mexico to bolster its national herd.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, have both said they will not compromise on biosecurity to allow the US access to the Australian market.