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

ABC NEWS (Australia)

US president Donald Trump has signed an executive order to exempt hundreds of food products from tariffs. It's in response to American consumer complaints about high prices. The move is particularly significant for the beef industry - as it's one of Australia’s main exports to the US.  Cattle farmer and deputy chair of Cattle Australia Adam Coffey says demand continues to be high for Australian beef.

Transcript

00:00I think definitely we welcome this move. Any reduction in tariffs is good news. As an Australian

00:11beef exporting nation, we are obviously proponents of rules-based trade. We export some 75% of

00:19what we produce here. So ultimately anything that reduces the cost of trade or our product

00:24going into any country is good news.

00:26Obviously, the President was pretty adamant that he would keep tariffs in place. But

00:32with your experience, did the move surprise you?

00:36Look, I guess we were somewhat surprised. It's a little hard to pick what's happening in

00:42this space at the moment, as we all know. But look, I think in some ways, not a surprise.

00:48Broadly, the reality is that there is and continues to be huge demand from the US. Their cattle herd

00:55is at a 70-year low. So domestically, they have a real supply issue. And I think the

01:01value of our trade to the US last year was worth $4 billion. At the end of October, we're

01:06already at 370,000 tonnes. And I think we're currently shipping about 140,000 tonnes per

01:13month. So, you know, the demand from the US is accordingly very strong. They are our most

01:19important beef trading partner have been and will remain so, hopefully.

01:23So what does this removal of the tariff mean for those in the beef industry and for your

01:29business?

01:30Well, as I said, you know, we continue to see strong demand for our products. You know,

01:34we are a highly, I guess we're highly diversified when it comes to where we place our beef around

01:40different countries around the world. You know, we're exporting to some 80, over 80-odd countries

01:45now. So, you know, we'll continue to see strong demand there. I think domestically, you know,

01:51season has had an impact here in Australia. And we've seen, obviously, some very dry conditions

01:57in the south, which obviously placed some extra supply onto the market. And in the north, certainly

02:04around where I am now in central Queensland and big parts of Queensland, big parts of our beef

02:09producing areas, we've seen a very late break and certainly people still are, you know,

02:15seeking that early rain. So we would hope that, you know, once we do get the widespread rain

02:20and there is a resulting grass growth, we'll see, you know, upward pressure placed on prices.

02:27Given that Australia's tariff for beef was much lower than other countries, we were at 10%,

02:32but countries like Brazil were around 50%. Now that beef is exempt altogether, have we lost

02:39a bit of a competitive edge there? Look, you know, I'd say where the chips fell around this tariff

02:46issue, you know, perhaps we comparatively did have a little bit of an advantage. Again, we're not,

02:54you know, I wouldn't say that that advantage has been taken away at all. As I said, the fundamentals

02:59are here. This is a reflection of our longstanding critical relationship with the US and, you know,

03:06across multiple fronts, not just restricted to beef and trade.

03:11Have these moves, Adam, changed with the first the imposing of the tariffs and now the dropping of

03:17them? Have they changed the way that you do business or others in the industry?

03:22Not as such. You know, Australian beef cattle producers, we're fairly adept at sort of rolling

03:27with the punches when it comes to, you know, trades, markets, whatever happens there. But I

03:33would say that, you know, in this space, we sort of throw around, you know, trade impacts, percentages

03:38of this and that. And look, the reality, as I said, of the demand out of the US is that they've had some

03:43very, very tough conditions. They're now in a herd rebuild. But I think it's, you know, our thoughts

03:49are sort of with with fellow US beef producers, our ranchers over there, obviously the tough times

03:55they've had meant that they had to sell off a lot of their animals. And for any beef producer that

03:59cares deeply for their livestock and their land, that's a that's a very tough thing to go to go

04:04through. They're obviously in a beef beef in a herd rebuild. And so, yes, they will be receiving some

04:10good livestock prices. But the reality is that a lot of them wouldn't have essentially have a lot of

04:14cattle to sell. So we wish them good seasons in green grass. And, you know, that that goes for

04:20all of our beef cattle producers around the world who ultimately work hard to put a steak on your plate.

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