Australia is being warned not to sell out its beef farmers as the prime minister confirms he will not compromise the nation’s biosecurity protections in tariff talks.
The federal government is considering granting more American beef producers access to the local market as Anthony Albanese seeks to strike a tariff deal in a potential meeting with US president Donald Trump.
But Nationals leader David Littleproud warned this could have consequences for biosecurity and urged the government to use other bargaining chips, such as its defence partnership.
“Australia should not be trading its beef industry away,” he said.
“Rather than jeopardise our beef industry, Australia should be leveraging off our strong historical ties and areas such as critical minerals and AUKUS, using real leadership to obtain a fair deal.”
Demand for Australian beef has been strong because of ongoing drought in the US and America’s lower herd numbers.
At the end of 2024, much lower supply from the US was improving Australian prices and international market value.
But the US has long taken issue with the lack of access to Australia’s domestic beef market.
Australia previously placed restrictions on fresh US beef imports in 2003 after mad cow disease, but the ban was lifted in 2019 and beef raised and slaughtered in the US can already be exported to Australia.
But Mr Trump’s administration demands Australia accept beef that has been raised in Canada or Mexico and slaughtered and processed in the US.
Some have raised worries about deficiencies in Mexico’s livestock tracking system, which could inadvertently lead producers to import beef from parts of the continent where disease outbreaks are a concern.
The US needed to demonstrate it could trace Mexican and Canadian-born cattle, or had traceability systems equivalent to Australia’s before the federal government imported meat from non-US cows, Cattle Australia executive Chris Parker said.
The prime minister is expected to meet with Mr Trump on the sidelines of the G7 conference or in the US in mid-June, shortly after the US president granted the UK an exemption from his supercharged tariffs.
The UK deal offers hope to Australia, if the government plays its cards correctly, but Mr Albanese confirmed any tariff deal won’t be at the expense of Australia’s biosecurity.
“We will not change or compromise any of the issues regarding biosecurity … it’s simply not worth it,” the prime minister told ABC radio on Friday.
“If things can be sorted out in a way that protects our biosecurity, of course, we don’t just say ‘no, we don’t want imports here’ for the sake of it.
“But our first priority is biosecurity.”
National Farmers Federation president David Jochinke welcomed the comments and said biosecurity assessment processes were crucial to ensuring imports were safe.
The Department of Agriculture is reviewing Mexican and Canadian beef.
Mr Albanese has already had three conversations with Mr Trump but said he was looking forward to meeting him in person, calling him an “interesting character”.
While he acknowledged the mutual respect between both nations, Mr Albanese re-asserted Australia’s independence.
“The United States is an important ally for Australia,” he said.
“We don’t have a subservient relationship to any nation. We’re a sovereign nation that stands on our own two feet.”
Though US beef is up for discussion, Health Minister Mark Butler expressly ruled out bargaining with Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Government officials insist they seek a full exemption from all tariffs after Mr Trump imposed a 50 per cent steel and aluminium tariff on all trading partners except the UK, on top of his baseline 10 per cent “Liberation Day” levies.
Australian Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national newswire and has been delivering accurate, reliable and fast news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We keep Australia informed.
