Australia Relaxes Cattle Import Restrictions

President Donald Trump is claiming a major victory over non-scientific trade barriers, as Australia has announced it will reduce restrictions on US beef imports. Australia has allowed imports of beef grown in the US since 2019, but they have not allowed imports from the US of beef sourced from Canada or Mexico because of disease risk. But the US has recently introduced additional movement controls that identify and trace all cattle from Mexico and Canada to their farms of origin. In April, President Trump told reporters that the US imported $3 billion worth of Australian beef just last year alone. Yet Australia will not take any of the US product. He said they don't want it because they don't want it to affect their farmers. He doesn't blame them, but he said, "we're doing the same thing right now.

And in reaction from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association President, Buck Wehrbein says, For 20 years, US US beef was denied access to Australia, while Australia exported $29 billion worth of beef to us, consumers. The lack of two-way science-based trade has been a sticking point for many years. In addition, he says opening the Australian market to American beef will benefit our producers at home, while also offering Australian consumers to enjoy our high-quality beef and USDA. Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, says it's a major trade breakthrough.