Trump reverses food import tariffs in the US, including Australian beef

ABC NEWS (Australia)

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to dump tariffs on a broad swathe of commodities including beef, coffee and tropical fruits. The move means Australian beef is no longer subject to a 10 per cent tariff. The CEO of Cattle Australia Will Evans spoke to the ABC.

Transcript

00:00Just firstly, can I get your initial reaction to this news?

00:06It's obviously most welcomed.

00:07I mean, the Australian beef industry is an advocate for rules-based trading and fair

00:11trading systems, and any removal of tariffs or trade impediments is something that we

00:16most welcome.

00:16So it's obviously a positive announcement out of the United States this morning, and

00:21something that we're very welcome for.

00:24These tariffs had been in place for several months.

00:27How had Australian beef exporters been impacted by this?

00:33I mean, any tariff has an impact, but one of the important things to put into consideration

00:38here is that the US beef herd is at a 70-year low.

00:41So we've been having really strong demand for our product globally this year, and including

00:45for the United States, we've been putting an awful lot of beef into those markets.

00:50So for us, the effect is obviously there, but the reality of the supply for domestic beef

00:56in the United States at the moment is that it's very short.

00:59So demand has remained really strong for our product.

01:02The US is the largest market for Australian beef exports, as I understand.

01:06So how does it compare to other countries?

01:10Just can you put into context, I guess, how critical the US market is for Australian beef

01:15producers?

01:17Yeah, sure.

01:17Last year, the US market overtook the Australian domestic market as being our largest single

01:22market segment.

01:23So the domestic market is about 30% of the product that we produce, and last year, the

01:27US actually overtook that.

01:28Now, this year, it looks like the US will stay in that sort of category.

01:32It's a very big market for Australian beef, and one that we've supplied for a long time.

01:37This is about $4 billion worth of trade to the Australian beef industry.

01:40So it's a really significant market and a really important one for us into the future.

01:45How are Australian producers handling this sort of back and forth, I suppose, the uncertainties

01:51around President Trump's tariffs?

01:54What does that do to producer confidence?

01:58Well, look, this year, we've seen a huge demand for our product.

02:02I mean, US market's about 17% up on last year.

02:07China's increased significantly this year.

02:09Korea's increased significantly this year.

02:12Japan's about consistent with where it was last year.

02:15You know, we're in a very lucky situation that Australia produces beef to a really high

02:19standard that's recognised globally.

02:22So for us, we've been in a really strong position this year, even with the trade fluctuations

02:25with the United States, where we've had other market opportunities where we've been able

02:29to plug in beef if there is some uncertainty or if there has been some challenges.

02:32But this year's been a really strong year for the Australian beef industry as a whole.

02:36We need some rain in certain parts of this country where we are a bit dry, but hopefully

02:41we're looking at a really strong next 12 months as well.

02:43What can you put that growth down to?

02:47You know, despite the market uncertainties, particularly with the United States, why is

02:51it that Australian beef is still growing in that market?

02:55Well, look, we produce beef to the highest standard globally.

02:58We export beef to 100 countries around the world.

03:01You know, what that means for us is that we have to meet the requirements for all of those

03:04countries. So we have very strict protocols in place.

03:07We have lifetime traceability for all our cattle.

03:10We have on-property animal welfare, biosecurity management plans, chemical control management

03:14plans. You know, we are built to export beef all around the world and to meet hundreds

03:19of different requirements for all of those markets.

03:21So when there is global trade disruptions, Australia is often really well placed to take

03:26advantage of those because we have preferential market access around the world built upon our

03:30reputation as being, you know, a very high quality supplier of beef.

03:34And demand for beef is rising globally.

03:37You know, and so Australia is really well positioned to be able to capture the value of that.

03:41All right. Will Evans, the CEO of Cattle Australia, thanks so much for your time today.

03:46Not a problem. Thank you for having me.

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