SYDNEY – Australia will not relax its strict biosecurity rules during tariff negotiations with the United States, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on June 6 ahead of a potential meeting with US President Donald Trump at the G7 summit in June.
Australia has restricted the entry of US beef since 2003 due to the detection of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, known as mad cow disease, but it exports beef worth A$4 billion (S$3.3 billion) annually to the United States, its largest market.
“We will not change or compromise any of the issues regarding biosecurity – full stop, exclamation mark. It’s simply not worth it,” Mr Albanese told ABC Radio.
Mr Trump in April singled out Australian beef, while announcing a 10 per cent baseline tariff on all imports.
Years of dry weather have shrunk US cattle numbers to their lowest since the 1950s, but Australia, with a herd swelled by wet weather, is flush with supply, offering lower prices and lean cuts that the US lacks.
A report in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper on June 6, citing unidentified government officials, said Australian authorities were reviewing whether to allow entry of beef products from cattle raised in Mexico and Canada but slaughtered in the US, as the Trump administration has demanded.
But Mr Albanese said no such concessions were being considered as those imports still posed risks to the Australian cattle industry.
Australia is one of the few countries the US normally runs a trade surplus with, a point often made by Australian officials and lawmakers arguing against Mr Trump’s tariffs.
The country recorded a rare trade surplus with the US in January after gold exports surged due to global economic uncertainties.
Mr Albanese said he was looking forward to a “face-to-face” meeting with Mr Trump but did not specify when that would happen.
“We’ve had three conversations that have been constructive, they’ve been polite and they’ve been respectful. That’s the way I deal with people,” Mr Albanese said.
“There are obviously issues, not between Australia and the United States. It’s not like Australia has been singled out for any particularly egregious treatment. It’s across the board.” REUTERS
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