Donald Trump is claiming a win over dropped biosecurity restrictions on US beef despite Australian leaders saying the move has nothing to do with ongoing trade negotiations.
The US president has been pushing for concessions from a raft of countries after unveiling sweeping tariffs on imports, including a baseline 10 per cent rate for Australian goods.
Washington officials have complained about non-tariff trade barriers for US wares being shipped to Australia, including long-standing restrictions on beef that have now been dropped.
Mr Trump said the US would “sell so much to Australia”, putting other countries that banned its beef imports on notice.
“After many years Australia has agreed to accept American beef!” he posted on his Truth Social platform.
“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.”
US trade representative Jamieson Greer said the president took “decisive action to confront unfair trading practices”.
“Australia’s decision to unlock market access for US beef is a direct result of his leadership,” he said.
The Australian government maintains the decision was unrelated to any trade negotiations and it followed a decade-long biosecurity review relating to US beef after a 2003 mad cow disease outbreak.
“It’s nothing in the timing, it reflects a change in American practice over the last six or nine months that’s been assessed independently by our officials,” Health Minister Mark Butler told Seven’s Sunrise on Friday.
“As I understand it, the Americans introduced new traceability arrangements.”
A blanket ban on US beef imports was lifted in 2019, but there were restrictions on products derived from Canada- or Mexico-raised cattle.
Only small quantities have been imported to Australia since the wholesale ban was lifted.
Craig Huf, a cattle producer from Upper Barringbar on the NSW north coast, said large volumes of imported beef were not expected to reach the Australian market because of record-low US herd numbers.
“The US is already importing bucketloads of beef from Australia, so for it to come back the other way is unlikely,” Mr Huf, the chair of the local NSW Farmers Association branch, told AAP on Friday.
“So, in the short term, we probably don’t expect it to impact us.”
But the association backed industry calls for an independent review of the government’s decision to reassure producers about biosecurity risks.
“Australia has got some of the best biosecurity protocols in the world and the produce here is often bought because of its clean, green image,” Mr Huf said.
“So to jeopardise that is pretty risky, but here’s hoping the science is right and that we’re not the sacrificial lambs of government policies.”
Australian Farm Institute executive director Katie McRobert said the cattle industry had been “extremely nervous” about biosecurity traceability from different parts of North and South America.
“We wouldn’t expect a significant impact on Australian producers from the potential to import American beef … because we already produce far more beef in Australia than we can possibly eat,” she said.
Experts have warned that Australia’s move to lift restrictions on US beef might not be enough to shift the dial on tariff negotiations.
The Philippines and Japan recently struck agreements with the US to lower their tariff rates, but both nations’ goods are still taxed above the 10 per cent baseline.
AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said Australia might be lucky to hang on to its baseline rate in the context of other deals.
Former ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos said while biosecurity investigations could take a while to finalise, it was a sensible outcome.
But he urged Australia to put together a comprehensive package to improve bargaining power in the attempt to strike a trade deal.
