\u201cI figured we were about to get railroaded,\u201d said Adam Armstrong, a Queensland cattle farmer.<\/p>\n
But Trump\u2019s extensive new global tariff regime<\/a> introduced last week imposed a relatively mild baseline duty of 10 per cent on Australia, which has an overall trade deficit with the US.<\/p>\n Other beef producers faced significantly higher levies, including 50 per cent for Brazil, 35 per cent for Canada and 15 per cent for New Zealand.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat this decision means is that, in conjunction with the changes to other countries, Australian products are now more competitive going into the US,\u201d Don Farrell, Australia\u2019s trade minister, said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n US demand for Australian \u201ctrim\u201d beef \u2014 which is blended with fattier American meat to make hamburger patties and mince \u2014 has boomed in recent years, as the American cattle industry has been unable to keep pace with consumption.<\/p>\n Exports of beef to the US rose 12 per cent in July on the year before to 43,000 tonnes, according to data from Meat & Livestock Australia, helping boost overall shipments last month to an all-time high.<\/p>\n Constrained domestic supply due to years of drought has driven US meat prices to record levels this year and further increased appetite for imports.<\/p>\n Australian exports to North America \u2014 including Canada, which has also imported more Australian beef \u2014 are up 30 per cent in 2025, and overall exports are up 11 per cent, according to MLA.<\/p>\n Will Evans, chief executive of Cattle Australia, a trade lobby, said the US was a \u201cvital\u201d partner, noting the country imported more than A$6bn (US$3.9bn) of beef last year.<\/p>\n Australia exports about 70 per cent of the beef it produces, according to the MLA. Prime cuts also go to markets including Japan, China and Europe.<\/p>\n Robert Mackenzie, a fifth-generation farmer in northern New South Wales with 3,500 Angus cattle, said the US industry could absorb the impact of the tariffs but that the product was \u201cprice driven\u201d, which should play to Australia\u2019s position.<\/p>\n \u201cHigher tariffs for other countries that have made political waves have opened up bigger markets for Australia, not just [the] US but also China,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s made us more competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n He said this had helped offset the impact of high energy and labour costs in Australia, where the industry also does not enjoy the subsidies offered in some other countries. <\/p>\n Yet Canberra\u2019s move to lift restrictions on imports of cattle processed in the US but sourced from other countries \u2014 which were introduced in 2003 to prevent mad cow disease and other threats from infecting local herds \u2014 has stoked concern among farmers.<\/p>\n The Australian government denied it had compromised on its biosecurity regulations<\/a> in service of a better trade deal with the US.<\/p>\n \u201cThe outcome of the technical assessment of beef from the United States is the culmination of a decade of science and risk-based import assessments and evaluations,\u201d Farrell said in July.<\/p>\n Recommended<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
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New South Wales cattle farmer Robert Mackenzie: \u2018Higher tariffs for other countries that have made political waves have opened up bigger markets for Australia\u2019 \u00a9 Supplied<\/p>\n
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