Latest news with #MeatandLivestockAustralia
Sky News AU
a day ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Donald Trump flags baseline tariff hike
Donald Trump has flagged the US could double the baseline tariff on foreign imports to 20 per cent. Australia is captured by the baseline tariff regime, with a blanket 10 per cent impost slapped on most products flowing to the US despite a bilateral free-trade agreement. The baseline tariff is imposed on top of sectoral duties – taxes targeting specific industries, such as steel and aluminium. The US President floated his new tariff for 'the rest of the world' while speaking to reporters with Keir Starmer in Scotland overnight. 'I would say it'll be somewhere in the 15 to 20 per cent range,' Mr Trump said when pressed for a figure. 'Probably one of those two numbers. 'We're going to be setting a tariff for, essentially, the rest of the world. 'That's what they're going to pay if they want to do business in the United States, because you can't sit down and make 200 deals.' The Albanese government has responded, with a spokesperson for Trade Minister Don Farrell saying Australia would continue push for an Australian carve out. 'Any tariffs on Australian goods are unjustified and an act of economic self-harm,' the spokesperson said. 'We will continue to engage at all levels to advocate for the removal of all tariffs, in line with our free trade agreement with the United States.' Assistant Treasurer Dan Mulino expanded a little, downplaying Mr Trump's comments as 'off-the-cuff'. 'We are a country that relies on trade,' he told Sky News. 'We are a country with a very high proportion of jobs that rely on trade. 'That remains the position of this government. 'So, we would rather a situation in which the world doesn't go down the path of imposing tariffs. 'But what I can say is that Australia remains in a situation where we've got as good a deal as anybody, and we continue to engage with the US Government intensely on these matters.' Australia's biggest export to the US is beef, which was worth $5.7bn in 2024, according to Meat and Livestock Australia. More to come. Originally published as '20 per cent': Donald Trump flags baseline tariff hike
West Australian
7 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
‘Only source left': Australia emerges as last man standing on beef exports
Australian beef producers are cashing in on US President Donald Trump's crackdown on imports, with limited stock seeing prices soar. Despite being called out specifically by Mr Trump during his Liberation Day speech in April, Australian producers are currently the only foreign supplier left to the US. Commonwealth Bank sustainable and agricultural economist Dennis Voznesenski said strong demand out of the US is pushing beef export prices further into record high territory. 'The US has largely four sources to import beef from abroad, being Mexico, Canada, Brazil and Australia,' Mr Voznesenski said. 'Mexico has a flesh eating bacteria called new age screw worm with the US closing the border to Mexico … Canada exports to the US are down 25 per cent from last year as they rebuild stock and as of August 1 President Trump plans to put a 50 per cent tariff on Brazil.' The economist said US farmers currently have a multiple-decade low supply of beef, meaning they will need to continue to export from other countries. 'Typically with tariffs the objective is to onshore industry. With some products you can restart quickly, but with cattle it's just not how it works, ' Mr Voznesenski said. Mr Voznesenski said Australia had since emerged as the final source of beef left for the US, with exports to America already up 30 per cent, even with the 10 per cent tariffs slapped on local producers. 'We are still waiting for the August 1 tariffs on Brazil and to see what actually happens, but afterwards it supports the demand for our product, so when you have higher beef prices it supports the price of cattle overall,' he said. Meat and Livestock Australia says 2024-2025 is forecast to deliver Australia's highest ever beef production. While high supply would usually dampen prices, it is coming at a time with strong global demand. MLA market information and NLRS manager Stephen Bignell said all cattle indicators had surpassed $3/kg for the first time in three years. In a wide ranging speech on April 2, dubbed Liberation Day for the US, Mr Trump took aim at foreign countries and announced an 'America first' policy. 'If you want your tariff rate to be zero, then you build your product right here in America,' he told foreign countries. The President took aim at the Aussie beef producers. 'Australia bans – and they're wonderful people, and wonderful everything – but they ban American beef,' President Trump said. 'Yet we imported $3bn of Australian beef from them just last year alone. 'They won't take any of our beef. They don't want it because they don't want it to affect their farmers.' The benefit to Australia's bottom line could continue for a while to come with it taking a couple of years for the US to build up domestic capacity. But what is good for Australia's exporters could be bad for Aussie consumers who might see a spike in the price of beef when they go to the shops. 'Domestic prices do not live in isolation,' Mr Voznesenski said. 'If there is strong demand offshore and it pushes up the price of cattle broadly, it increases the price of beef. 'To keep any locally, it'll need to be competitively priced. 'So if you're an end user of beef in Australia and you sell it retail, then you need to be offering prices that are competitive enough to keep it on the market.'
West Australian
30-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
WA sheep producers' confidence grows but many still wary about growing flocks
WA sheep farmers' confidence is improving on the back of high sheep prices, but more than half are still planning on reducing their flock size during the next 12 months. The change in sentiment was revealed in Meat and Livestock Australia's most recent Sheep Producers Intention Survey, which collected responses from more than 2370 producers across the nation in May. The survey, released by MLA and Australian Wool Innovation twice per year, marked the first time since October 2022 that all States — including WA — had reported positive or neutral sentiment. WA, which had a net sentiment of -64 in May last year, has reached neutral ground at 0 net sentiment, one year on. MLA senior marketing information analyst Erin Lukey said the 'pronounced' rebound in sentiment in WA was closely linked to rising sheep prices. 'Prices have risen significantly, particularly for finished lambs, which has buoyed confidence even as producers face tough seasonal and regulatory conditions,' she said. 'This is especially the case in WA, where the rebound in sentiment has been most pronounced. 'While producers in WA are wary of investing in flock growth amid uncertainty about future market access, others are adjusting breeding strategies or retaining more replacement ewes to adapt to changing conditions.' Despite this, the survey showed WA graziers were still planning on reducing their flock sizes, with a lack of confidence widely attributed to the Federal Government's plan to ban live sheep exports by May 2028. The survey revealed there were 10.14 million sheep in WA in 2025, including 9.04m breeding ewes and 1.10m wethers. But that figure was set to dip to 8.12m in 2026, with 7.28m breeding ewes and 840,000 wethers. The survey revealed WA's breeding ewe flock was forecast to fall by 19 per cent, with 58 per cent of producers planning to reduce their numbers during the next 12 months. Ms Lukey said WA graziers were 'wary' and 'taking a conservative approach' with their businesses, while in the Eastern States a combination of drought and flooding were making it difficult to maintain large flocks. The WA response was in line with the national response, with 41 per cent of surveyed producers planning to reduce their breeding ewe flock and 26 per cent planning to reduce their wether numbers. 'Many producers are taking a more conservative approach. 'Input costs, labour availability, and regulatory pressures, particularly the live sheep export phase-out, are weighing heavily on producers' minds.' Survey respondents found it difficult to pin-point a single off-farm external factor shaping their decision-making, instead listing five that were having an effect. These were weather conditions and the impact on feed availability, continued mention of the live sheep export ban and government decisions, input costs specifically for feed and day-to-day expenses, personal circumstances and forward planning, and the access to and cost of labour. Ms Lukey said Australian sheep producers were adapting their strategies and continued to evolve in the market's current climate. 'Whether it's retaining more replacement ewes, adjusting breeding strategies or responding to market demand, the sector continues to evolve,' she said. While farmers were feeling more positive about sheepmeat, they were feeling notably more pessimistic about the future of the wool sector — with nearly one in two producers having a 'negative outlook' for the sector. The next Sheep Producer Intentions Survey will focus on lambs and be released in October.
ABC News
27-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Cattle industry ditches pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2030
Less than a decade after the red meat industry promised to reach net-zero emissions by 2030, it has abandoned the goal claiming it is not possible. A review conducted by the Red Meat Advisory Council (RMAC) found it was not achievable to meet the ambitious 2030 net-zero target announced by Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) in 2017 and adopted in 2019. Independent chair, Red Meat Advisory Council, John McKillop, said it was partly due to a better understanding of emissions reduction and a realisation they were not on track to reach the target. "We just, quite frankly, realised we're not going to get to carbon neutral by 2030," he said. Livestock contributes about 11 per cent of Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions, according to the national greenhouse gas inventory. Mr McKillop said dropping the target would not impact any research and development programs. "We'll still be trying to reduce our emissions as much as we can, but the focus will now be on emissions intensity rather than the absolute number of tonnes of carbon emitted," he said. The Red Meat Advisory Council will request Meat and Livestock Australia complete modelling on emissions intensity, which it estimates will take a year before any new five- and 10-year targets are set for the industry. Pressed on whether this reversal would receive any backlash from consumers or key export markets, Mr McKillop was resolute. "No, I don't think so. I think you could look at it and say, 'Well, that was a really ambitious target. You got 78 per cent of the way there, five years out from it,'" he said. In a statement, a spokesperson for Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said the industry would be required to continue to reduce emissions. "The Albanese Labor government has supported the red meat industry in its ambitious goal to be carbon neutral by 2030," they said. "While the decision by industry to step away from this aspiration is disappointing, this does not change the need for Australian agriculture to continue to contribute to the economy-wide 2035 targets and the net-zero by 2050 goal, which will require all sectors across agriculture to make meaningful emissions reductions." Romy Carey, CEO of the NT Cattlemen's Association, told the NT Country Hour the change should not be viewed as a backward step. "The original CN30 plan wasn't grounded in a workable industry-wide plan," she said. "I don't think it's a step backwards but a bit of a strategic realignment." However, Farmers for Climate Action CEO Natalie Collard said any change to emissions methodology must have integrity and be widely accepted. "We understand RMAC dropping the carbon-neutral by 2030 target because most farmers won't achieve net-zero emissions by then," she said. "However, we're a science-based organisation, so we can't pretend 'climate neutral' and 'GWP*' [global warming potential] is a credible science." "We have never had to greenwash. Why would we start now? "This methodology has never been modelled … and it would also mean that a sheep would have higher emissions intensity than a cow, simply because of the lower weight. It just doesn't make sense." Caitlin Webb from VC Reid Livestock said the news was a relief for farmers, and the initial target might not have been practical. "I think it's good; it takes a lot of stress off the farmers," she said.
West Australian
09-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
The US needs Australian beef for hamburgers, Littleproud says
Anthony Albanese should play hardball with the US on beef as tariff talks grind on, Nationals leader David Littleproud says. American beef imports have emerged as a key negotiating item in the Albanese government's efforts to secure a tariff carve out. The Trump administration has been pushing for Australia to loosen import rules to include beef from cattle originating in Canada and Mexico but slaughtered in the US. The Prime Minister has confirmed biosecurity officials were reviewing the request but vowed his government would not 'compromise' Australia's strict bio laws. But the prospect of changing laws has sparked unease among cattle farmers worried about keeping bovine diseases well away from the country's shores. With beef imports seemingly key to securing a US tariff exemption, Mr Littleproud on Monday said there needed to be some 'perspective'. 'The United States does need Australia and other countries to import beef to be able to put on their hamburgers,' he told Sky News. 'They don't have the production capacity to be able to produce the type of beef that goes on their hamburgers. 'So this is a tax on themselves that they put on Australian beef.' Despite being subject to the blanket 10 per cent tariffs on foreign imports, Australian beef into the US has risen by 32 per cent this year, according to Meat and Livestock Australia. Meanwhile, the cost of domestically produced beef within the US has been climbing, as cattle farmers struggle with drought. Mr Littleproud said the Nationals were not against importing American beef provided that it was from cattle 'born in the United States and bred all the way through to their slaughter in the United States'. But beef from cattle originating in third countries was a risk because 'we don't have the traceability that we have over the US production system'. 'And that's why Anthony Albanese needed to rule out straight away that he would not open that up to those cattle that were born in Canada, Mexico, or anywhere else in the Americas, because that poses a significant risk unless we can trace those cattle,' Mr Littleproud said. Mr Albanese has been clear in saying he would 'never loosen any rules regarding our biosecurity'. But he has also said that if a deal can be struck 'in a way that protects our biosecurity, of course we don't just say no'. Mr Littleproud acknowledged Mr Albanese's words but said 'when you see reports from departments saying this is what's on the table in terms of negotiations – where there's smoke, there's fire'. In addition to the baseline 10 per cent duties on foreign goods, Australia has also been subjected to 50 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium. Only the UK has been able to secure a partial exemption from the Donald Trump's tariffs. A key UK concession was scrapping its 20 per cent imposts on American beef and raising the import quota to 13,000 metric tonnes. But with many British goods still subject to tariffs, analysts have questioned whether the deal was worth it. The US has trade surpluses with both the UK and Australia. Though, Australia also has a free-trade agreement with the US, meaning goods should be traded mostly uninhibited. The Albanese government has repeatedly criticised Mr Trump's decision to slap tariffs on Australian products as 'economic self-harm' and 'not the act of a friend'.
