Australia to reduce US beef import restrictions denounced by Trump as a
ban
[July 24, 2025] By
ROD McGUIRK
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) —
Australia announced it will reduce restrictions on U.S. beef imports in
a move U.S. President Donald Trump's administration claimed as a major
victory over “non-scientific trade barriers.”
Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said Thursday that relaxing the
restrictions designed to keep Australia free of mad cow disease, also
known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE, would not compromise
biosecurity.
“Australia stands for open and free trade — our cattle industry has
significantly benefited from this,” Collins said in a statement.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins responded to Australia's
annoucement by congratulating Trump on a “major trade breakthrough that
gives greater access to U.S. beef producers selling to Australia.”
She issued a statemeant under the leadline: Make Agriculture Great Again
Trade Wins.
“American farmers and ranchers produce the safest, healthiest beef in
the world. It’s absurd that non-scientific trade barriers prevented our
beef from being sold to consumers in Australia for the last 20 years,”
Rollins said.
"Gone are the days of putting American farmers on the sidelines. This is
yet another example of the kind of market access the President
negotiates to bring America into a new golden age of prosperity, with
American agriculture leading the way,” she added.
Australia has allowed imports of beef grown in the United States since
2019. But Australia has not allowed imports from the U.S. of beef
sourced from Canada or Mexico because of the disease risk.
But the U.S. has recently introduced additional movement controls that
identify and trace all cattle from Mexico and Canada to their farms of
origin.
US cattle import controls satisfy Australian authorities
Australian authorities were “satisfied the strengthened control measures
put in place by the U.S. effectively manage biosecurity risks,” Collins
said.
The timing of the new, reduced restrictions has not been finalized.
Trump attacked Australian import restrictions on U.S. beef when he
announced in April that tariffs of at least 10% would be placed on
Australian imports, with steel and aluminum facing a 50% tariff.
“Australia bans — and they’re wonderful people, and wonderful everything
— but they ban American beef,” Trump told reporters then.
“Yet we imported $3 billion of Australian beef from them just last year
alone. 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,” Trump added.
Lawmaker fears appeasing Trump endangers Australian cattle industry
Opposition lawmaker David Littleproud suspected the government was
endangering Australia’s cattle industry to appease Trump.
“I want to see the science and it should be predicated on science. I’m
suspicious of the speed at which this has been done,” Littleproud told
reporters.
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A price for beef is displayed on a shelf at a grocery store in
Mount Prospect, Ill., Thursday, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh,
File)
 “We need to give confidence to the
industry, but also to you (the public): this is not just about
animal welfare, this is about human welfare, this is about BSE
potentially coming into this country and having a human impact, so I
think it’s important the government’s very transparent about the
science and I don’t think it’s even beyond the question to have an
independent panel review that science to give confidence to
everybody,” he added.
Around 70% of Australian beef is exported. Producers fear that
export market would vanish overnight if diseases including mad cow
or foot-and-mouth disease infected Australian cattle.
Will Evans, chief executive of Cattle Australia who represents more
than 52,000 grass-fed beef producers across the nation, said he was
confident the agriculture department had taken a cautious approach
toward U.S. imports.
“The department’s undertaken a technical scientific assessment and
we have to put faith in them. They’ve made this assessment
themselves. They’ve said: ‘We’ve looked at this, we’ve looked at the
best science, this is a decision that we feel comfortable with,’”
Evans said.
“When you have a $75 billion (Australian $50 billion) industry
relying on them not making this mistake, I’m sure they’ve been very
cautious in their decision-making,” he added.
US beef prices rise because of drought and a domestic cattle
shortage
Beef prices have been rising in the U.S. due to factors that include
drought and shrinking domestic herd numbers.
The average price of a pound of ground beef in the U.S. rose to
$6.12 in June, up nearly 12% from a year ago, according to U.S.
government data. The average price of all uncooked beef steaks rose
8% to $11.49 per pound.
Australian demand for U.S. beef is likely to remain low for reasons
including a relatively weak Australian dollar.
Australia’s opposition to any U.S. tariffs will be high on the
agenda when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese secures his first
face-to-face meeting with Trump.
Albanese and Trump were to hold a one-on-one meeting on the
sidelines of a Group of Seven summit in Canada last month, but the
U.S. president left early.
Albanese expects the pair will meet this year, although no date has
been announced.
The two countries have had a bilateral free trade deal for 20 years
and the U.S. has maintained a trade surplus with Australia for
decades.
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