Australia welcomes the removal of US tariffs on beef

Yesterday, Australia expressed its cautious welcome for US President Donald Trump’s cancellation of customs duties on beef, but at the same time it urged the United States to exempt Australian goods from all duties.

Last Friday, Trump canceled customs duties on more than 200 food products, including beef, amid consumer concerns about rising American grocery prices.

In 2024, Australia will become the largest exporter of red meat to the United States, offering lower prices and types of low-fat meat that the United States lacks.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wang said: “We welcome the lifting of these tariffs, it is a good thing for Australian beef producers.”

But Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his Labor government would continue to “call for real reciprocal tariffs, which would be zero.”

Trump describes some of the duties he imposed on goods shipped to the United States as “reciprocal,” based on the size of the United States’ trade deficit in goods with a particular country. Albanese said in television statements from Melbourne: “We firmly believe, and we will continue to call for (zero) customs duties.”

The Australian Foreign Minister did not say whether Albanese’s centre-left government now expected Trump to back down from imposing 50% tariffs on Australian steel and aluminum imports to the United States, and said: “We will continue to defend our position.”

Last April, Trump pointed out a disparity in beef trade with Australia after its beef exports to the United States rose last year, reaching four billion Australian dollars ($2.64 billion) amid a decline in American beef production.

Since 1990, Australia has exported between 150,000 and 400,000 tons of this product annually to the United States, where it is very popular with fast food restaurants.