Trump eating Australia for lunch

Lifting the ban on imports of US beef is a win for Donald Trump in his trade war on everyone.

Anthony Albanese should acknowledge this and get on the plane to bag the benefits. He must also work harder to convince Australian beef producers that the biosecurity concerns that have kept US beef out of Australia for the past two decades are no longer an issue.

Insisting that the change to allow imports of US beef is all part of business as usual and the product of a long-term review by biosecurity officials cheapens the concession and simply doesn’t pass the pub test.

The US is hailing the result as “yet another example of the kind of market access the President negotiates to bring America into a new golden age of prosperity, with American agriculture leading the way”. “Make Agriculture Great Again,” said US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

The challenge for Mr Albanese is to convert the beef imports concession into lower US import duties on Australian products, including steel and aluminium, and to head off threatened punitive tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

There is no doubt where the US stands on beef. Despite having one of the largest beef industries in the world, the US imports lean beef for its mince and burger markets, and exports high-quality cuts that have been raised on grain, the dominant business model for the US industry.

Since 2019, Australia has allowed in American beef from bovines born and bred in the US.

Our biosecurity concerns have centred on US exports of beef that originated in neighbouring Canada or Mexico. Agriculture Minister Julie Collins says improvements in the ability to track the origin of individual beasts has allayed our concerns about biosecurity.

Nationals backbencher Barnaby Joyce is right to ask for official confirmation from the nation’s chief veterinary officer that there were no longer biosecurity concerns, rather than rely on the word of the minister.

The irony is that Australia is well supplied with quality cuts of domestic beef and is unlikely to take up the option of US imports, at least in the short term.

Mr Trump will likely continue to eat Australian beef ground up for his meal of choice, McDonald’s burgers.

Let’s allow the American President to feel smug about having Australia for lunch in his new trade negotiations. Mr Albanese still has work to do to make sure we get something out of it.