Why American beef can’t beat Australian beef as Trump’s tariff war continues

Having recently moved to the US from Queensland, I can certainly vouch for the quality of Aussie beef, writes Vanessa Marsh. See the video.

Donald Trump took aim at Australia’s beef industry while announcing his ‘liberation day’ tariffs, bemoaning our refusal to accept US beef to be imported into our country, while we in turn send billions of dollars of meat to America each year.

“Australia bans – and they’re wonderful people, wonderful everything – but they ban American beef,” he said.

But it’s not a “ban” as the US President claimed.

The US could send its beef to Australia’s shores if their industry was willing to meet our critical biosecurity requirements. But they’re not.

The US buys billions of dollars worth of beef each year from Australia for many reasons, including that American beef producers simply cannot keep up with the demand.

In a country renowned for its love of fast food and burgers, Australian beef is critical. Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of Aussie beef is used by US fast food giants every year, including in the McDonald’s cheeseburgers the President is so fond of.

American beef isn’t what I thoguht it would be.

It’s also on the menus of some America’s best restaurants, with many chefs shunning US beef for Aussie or Japanese cuts.

Having recently moved to the US from Queensland, I can certainly vouch for the quality of Aussie beef.

I’ve had to quickly learn to love pork and chicken because to be quite frank - the US beef just doesn’t cut it.

Whether you buy it from the butcher, the local grocer or order it in a restaurant, US beef just can’t match the taste of Australian meat.

No matter how it’s prepared or the cut I choose, I find every steak I’ve tried here leaves an unpleasant aftertaste that Aussie beef just doesn’t have.

It’s easy to see why Americans choose to eat 400,000 tonnes of Aussie beef each year over their home-grown alternatives.

Originally published as Why American beef can’t beat Australian beef as Trump’s tariff war continues