US beef ban canned by Labor as trade win for Donald Trump sparks fears in Aussie cattle sector

Australia has lifted its long-standing biosecurity ban on beef from the United States, prompting concerns from the cattle industry and fiery scenes in Parliament over fears the $75 billion sector has been sacrificed for tariff leverage.

The backdown comes as an emboldened US President Donald Trump signals a hardening stance on tariffs, suggesting he will not go below a 15 per cent import tax — up from the 10 per cent floor currently applied to Australian goods.

Overnight, the US was advised the ban had been lifted, with Agriculture Minister Julie Collins insisting the Government would “never compromise on biosecurity” and describing the move as the result of a rigorous, decade-long risk-based assessment by the Department of Agriculture.

Trade Minister Don Farrell said there was “nothing suspicious” about the timing, even though the announcement came just days ahead of Trump’s August 1 tariff deadline. “It’s been a 10-year process and as a result of that process by the officials at the Agriculture Department, we have decided that it is appropriate now,” Senator Farrell said.

But the cattle industry said it had been blindsided by the decision and received no consultation during the final stages of the review. Cattle Australia deputy Adam Coffey told The Nightly the body would be calling for an independent scientific panel to review how the decision was made.

“We have more questions than answers at this point in time,” he said.

“We were only informed that the trade was going to be opened and imports allowed as of yesterday afternoon so we’re fairly disappointed about lack of consultation with anyone in the red meat sector.

“We were aware the process was ongoing but we weren’t aware it was coming to a head. If this is the benchmark that Government want to have around critical issues, then we have some concerns.”

Cattle Australia said it had not seen any detail of the science-based assessment prior to the announcement and is now reviewing the DAFF paper. The group is also concerned that the rules applied to Australian beef exports into the US will not be reciprocated for incoming US product.

“We believe an independent scientific assessment is a sensible and prudent way forward. This must occur before imports commence,” Cattle Australia chief executive Will Evans said.

“There is simply too much at stake when it comes to Australia’s world-leading biosecurity status not to get a second opinion. Given the Minister’s confidence she should have no issue appointing an independent panel to take the highest level of precaution in protecting the Australian beef industry.”

The lack of consultation has sparked criticism that the decision was rushed to meet the tariff deadline.

“I’m suspicious by the speed in which this has been done… It looks as though it’s been traded away to appease Donald Trump, and that’s what we don’t want,” Nationals MP David Littleproud told ABC Radio National, before engaging in a heated exchange with Minister Collins in the House of Representatives that prompted intervention from Speaker Milton Dick.

The exchange descended into a blame game after Mr Littleproud took Ms Collins to task on whether Australia’s biosecurity requirements to import US beef would be “at least equivalent to the biosecurity requirements ... that Australian beef ... must meet to be imported into the US.”

“The member opposite needs to be very careful here about trying to undermine Australia’s biosecurity system,” Ms Collins said.

“Our biosecurity system is the strongest in the world for a good reason. We’ve had to invest around $2 billion to strengthen our biosecurity system because of the mess that you left it in.”

Australia’s ban had been repeatedly cited by President Trump as an example of “unfair” non-tariff barriers. “Australia... and they’re wonderful people, wonderful everything, but they ban American beef,” he said in his 2 April “Liberation Day” address.

The ban was originally implemented due to concerns over traceability and disease risk. While technically eligible to export to Australia since 2019, most US producers have been unable to prove that cattle were born, raised and slaughtered solely within the United States — a requirement under Australian law designed to prevent outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (mad cow disease).

These diseases could devastate Australia’s livestock sector, which exports more than 60 per cent of its output to high-value, biosecurity-sensitive markets including Japan, South Korea and the US. ABARES modelling suggests a large-scale FMD outbreak could cost the industry more than $50 billion over a decade, while even a contained incident could result in $5.6 billion in losses through export bans and domestic oversupply.

Australia is currently facing a 50 per cent tariff on steel and aluminium, a threat of a 200 per cent tariff on pharmaceuticals, and a 10 per cent impost on nearly all other exports to the US, including beef. The government hopes that lifting the beef ban will help secure a rollback of those measures.

But former DFAT economist and Lowy Institute non-resident fellow Dr Jenny Gordon said Australia was unlikely to win major concessions. “I suspect we’ll be stuck with the 10 per cent,” she said.

“We might be able to get some kind of better concession on security partner grounds, particularly on steel and aluminium… but the US wants these tariffs for revenue.”

Dr Gordon said the optics of the decision were politically fraught, even if the review process was legitimate.

“If governments delay good policy or policy changes in order to use them as negotiating tools, that’s really challenging,” she said.

However, she added it was strategically wise to let the Trump administration claim a win, even if the outcome was inevitable. “If the Trump administration wants to announce all the great things they’ve done, let them. We’d be silly to argue otherwise, because they’re very powerful and access to that market is important.”

The US is Australia’s largest beef customer, importing 400,000 tonnes worth $US4.2 billion ($6.3b) last year. A prolonged drought has shrunk the US herd to its lowest level in 75 years, sending domestic beef prices to record highs.

Despite the longstanding ban on transhipped beef, US born and raised beef has continued to enter Australia, with imports reaching 270 tonnes in 2024/5, the highest since the mid-1990s, according to Episode3’s Matt Dalgleish. He said the sheer scale of Australia’s 1.4 million tonne annual beef exports made biosecurity paramount.

Another win for Donald Trump

The beef backdown will be trumpeted by Mr Trump as another victory in his aggressive tariff strategy. It follows a string of high-profile trade wins this week, including a deal with Japan to reduce threatened 25 per cent tariffs on car imports to 15 per cent, which Mr Trump hailed as his “largest Deal ever made.”

In a separate agreement with Indonesia, the US backed away from imposing 32 per cent tariffs in exchange for a 19 per cent levy on that nation’s goods, while US exports to Indonesia will face no tariffs.

Last night, Trump also signalled plans to raise the tariff floor from 10 to 15 per cent, telling a conference: “We’ll have a straight, simple tariff of anywhere between 15 per cent and 50 per cent.”

Dr Gordon warned that while Australia might manage some carveouts due to its security ties with the US, the broader trajectory of global trade was heading into dangerous territory.

She said the global economy had proven surprisingly resilient to tariff shocks so far, aided by post-COVID supply chain adaptations, but a sustained shift toward protectionism would weigh on growth.

“You don’t necessarily get collapse, but you do get slower growth and higher prices,” she said.