Article by Ben Westcott, courtesy of Bloomberg
10.07.2025
Australia’s total beef exports to the US rose significantly in June in the face of President Donald Trump’s new tariff regime, which saw the American leader specifically single out Canberra for refusing to accept adequate red meat imports.
Exports of chilled and frozen beef to the US jumped 23% from a year earlier in June, according to Meat & Livestock Australia data released on Thursday. Shipments in the first six months were up almost a third from a year earlier.
The US is the biggest market for Australia’s almost A$14 billion ($9.2 billion) beef and veal export sector, and is one of America’s largest foreign sources of red meat. Shipments to the US currently face a flat 10% tariff, and Trump singled out the nation for not buying enough US produce in the April press conference where he announced his administration’s “reciprocal” trade rates.
Exports to China more than doubled from a year earlier in June and were just a third below those to the US, Thursday’s data showed. Diplomatic tensions had hampered agricultural shipments between the two nations following the Covid-19 pandemic, although relations improved after the election of the center-left Labor government in 2022, and trade has largely resumed.
