By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Australia has agreed to open its market to U.S. beef, President Donald Trump said on Thursday, after the U.S. ally eased restrictions on imports that had angered the American leader.
The Trump administration hailed the deal, announced by Australia earlier on Thursday, as a win even as analysts said the step was unlikely to significantly boost U.S. shipments because beef prices are much lower in Australia.
“The other Countries that refuse our magnificent Beef are ON NOTICE,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Thursday.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has attempted to renegotiate trade deals with multiple countries who he asserts have taken advantage of the United States over the years. Many economists have disputed Trump’s characterization.
Australia Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said earlier on Thursday that a “rigorous science and risk-based assessment” had concluded that U.S. measures to monitor and control the movement of cattle meant biosecurity risks that Australia was previously concerned about were being effectively managed.
Meat from animals born, raised and slaughtered in the U.S. has been allowed into Australia since 2019. But few suppliers were able to prove their animals had been only in the U.S., because cattle frequently moved between the U.S., Canada and Mexico without being adequately tracked.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement welcoming the move that Australia had imposed “unjustified barriers” on U.S. beef that were now being lifted.
“American farmers and ranchers produce the safest, healthiest beef in the world. It’s absurd that non-scientific trade barriers prevented our beef from being sold to consumers in Australia for the last 20 years,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in the same statement.
The U.S. has been improving its ability to monitor animals’ movements to limit the spread of avian influenza and the New World screwworm, a parasite that eats cattle alive.
Recognizing those improvements, Australia will now also accept beef sourced from cattle born in Canada or Mexico and legally imported and slaughtered in the U.S., the Australian agriculture ministry said.
Australian firms will be able to apply for import permits from July 28, it added.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Ismail Shakil; Editing by Ross Colvin, Christian Schmollinger and Jamie Freed)
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