Trump Admin. Touts

Melbourne, Australia -Australia announced that it will reduce restrictions on beef imports in the United States in a movement that President Trump’s administration said as a great victory over “non -scientific commercial barriers” to commerce.

The Minister of Agriculture, Julie Collins, said Thursday that relaxing the restrictions designed to keep Australia free of crazy cows diseases, also known as bovine or EEB spongiform encephalopathy, did not compromise biosafety.

“Australia represents free trade and free trade: our livestock industry has benefited significantly from this,” Collins said in a statement.

Trump’s administration calls him an “important commercial advance”

The United States Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke L. Rollins, responded to Australia’s announcement congratulating Mr. Trump for a “great commercial advance that provides greater access to beef producers who sell to Australia.”

She issued a statement under the headline: “Make agriculture again win again.”

“American farmers and ranchers produce the safest and most healthy beef in the world. It is absurd that non -scientific commercial barriers prevented our meat from selling to consumers in Australia during the last 20 years,” Rollins said. “Behind the days of putting American farmers on the margin. This is another example of the type of market access that the president negotiates to bring to the United States to a new golden age of prosperity, with American agriculture that advances the road.”

Australia has allowed resident imports of meat to cultivate in the US since 2019, but do not allow the imports of the USA.

The United States has recently introduced additional movement controls that identify and track all cattle in Mexico and Canada to their farms of origin. Australian authorities were “satisfied with strengthened control measures established by the United States effectively manage the risks of biosafety,” Collins said.

The moment of new reduced restrictions has not been ended.

• UU. And the EU fight to reach a commercial agreement before the deadline of August 1

Trump attacked Australian import restrictions in American beef when he announced in April that the rates of at least 10% would be imposed on Australian imports, with steel and aluminum that faces a 50% rate.

“Australia prohibits, and they are wonderful people and everything wonderful, but they prohibit American beef,” Trump told journalists at that time. “However, we import $ 3 billion of Australian beef only last year. They will not take anything from our beef. They do not want it because they do not want to affect their farmers and, you know, I do not blame them, but we are doing the same at this time.”

The opposition legislator, David Littleproud, said he suspected that the government was endangering the Australian livestock industry to appease Trump.

Concerns about crazy cows disease in imported cattle

“I want to see science and should be based on science. I suspect the speed at which it has been done,” Littleproud told journalists.

“We need to give confidence to the industry, but also to you (the public): it is not just animal welfare, it is human well -being, it is that the IEB is potentially becoming this country and having a human impact, so I think it is important that the government is very transparent about science and I do not think it is beyond the question to have an independent panel that reviews science to give confidence to all, he added.

About 70% of Australian beef is exported. Producers fear that the export market will disappear during the night if diseases, such as crazy cows or mouth diseases, Australian cattle infected with Australian cattle.

According to the US disease control and prevention centers, there have only been six cases of EEB in American cattle from the main international outbreak of the disease, which focused on the United Kingdom and other European nations, at the end of the eighties and early nineties. One of those cows was imported from Canada and it is believed that it was infected there, and the other five, “was diagnosed with atypical EEB, which many researchers believe that it is a sporadic disease not caused by a contaminated food,” says the CDC.

Will Evans, Executive Director of Cattle Australia, which represents more than 52,000 meat producers fed with grass throughout the country, said he trusted that the Department of Agriculture had adopted a cautious approach to US imports.

“The department has undertaken a technical scientific evaluation and we have to put faith in them. They have done this evaluation themselves. They have said:” We have seen this, we have seen the best science, this is a decision with which we feel comfortable, “Evans said.

“When you have an industry of $ 75 billion (Australian of $ 50 billion) that depends on not making this mistake, I am sure they have been very cautious in their decision making,” he added.

But it is likely that Australian demand for American beef remains low despite relieved restrictions, for reasons that include a relatively weak Australian dollar.

Will Australians buy more beef?

Evans, from Cattle Australia, told the Broadcasting Corporation of Australia that he was not worried about the new government policy that flooded Australia’s domestic market with American beef. He said that the US national market is currently depending on the imports of Australian beef, which he according to him was cheaper than beef per pound.

“The probability of them (USA) Turn and search in Australia as a very high value market [to export to] It’s very low, “he said.” If it were an exporter of beef, I would be looking at Japan, Korea and China as really viable and valuable markets. I really don’t think Australia qualifies a lot on that list. “

Simon Quilty, an Agri Trends Analyst, agreed that it was unlikely that Australian consumers would soon see beef meat in their grocery stores.

“Honestly, if there is a pound of beef sent to Australia in the next three years, I members,” he told ABC.

Beef prices They have been going up in the United States For years, due to factors that include prolonged drought and a domestic herd number. The average price of a pound of ground meat in the United States increased to $ 6.12 in June, almost 12% more than a year ago, according to US government data. The average price of all raw beef fillets increased 8% to $ 11.49 per pound.

Australia’s opposition to any US tariff will have an outstanding place on the agenda when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ensures his first face to face with Trump.

Albanese and Mr. Trump were going to hold an individual meeting regardless of a group of seven summit in Canada last month, but the president of the United States left early.

Albanese expects the couple to meet this year, although a date has not been announced.

The two countries have had a bilateral free trade agreement for 20 years and the United States has maintained a commercial surplus with Australia for decades.

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