Australia has announced it will lift long-standing restrictions on US beef imports, easing a trade barrier that had strained relations with Washington.
The ban, in place since 2003 after a mad cow disease outbreak, had effectively blocked American beef due to Australia’s strict biosecurity laws. Although technically lifted in 2019, the integrated supply chains of US cattle with Mexico and Canada had kept the barrier intact.
Recent improvements in US cattle tracing systems, enabling better disease tracking and response, prompted Australia’s Department of Agriculture to give the green light. Agriculture Minister Julie Collins stressed that the decision was “purely based on science” and that Australia’s “biosecurity standards will never be compromised.”
The White House welcomed the move as a “major trade breakthrough,” with US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins calling previous restrictions “absurd.”
Critics in Australia’s opposition, however, accused the government of bowing to pressure from Donald Trump, who cited the beef ban when imposing tariffs on Australian exports in April. Nationals leader David Littleproud argued that the decision “looks as though [the ban has] been traded away to appease Donald Trump.”
Industry players were more optimistic. Cattle Australia chief executive Will Evans said the sector “must put faith in the department” and acknowledged the importance of maintaining strong trade ties with the US, Australia’s biggest beef export market worth A$14 billion ($9.2 billion) last year.
Despite Trump’s tariffs, beef trade between the two nations has grown by a third this year, according to Meat and Livestock Australia.
