Latest news with #tradebarriers
CBS News
6 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Trump admin. touts "major trade breakthrough" as Australia says it will ease U.S. beef import restrictions
Melbourne, Australia — Australia announced it will reduce restrictions on U.S. beef imports in a move President Trump's administration claimed as a major victory over "non-scientific trade barriers" to trade. Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said Thursday that relaxing the restrictions designed to keep Australia free of mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE, would not compromise biosecurity. "Australia stands for open and free trade — our cattle industry has significantly benefited from this," Collins said in a statement. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins responded to Australia's announcement by congratulating Mr. Trump on a "major trade breakthrough that gives greater access to U.S. beef producers selling to Australia." She issued a statement under the headline: "Make Agriculture Great Again Trade Wins." "American farmers and ranchers produce the safest, healthiest beef in the world. It's absurd that non-scientific trade barriers prevented our beef from being sold to consumers in Australia for the last 20 years," Rollins said. "Gone are the days of putting American farmers on the sidelines. This is 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." Australia has allowed imports of beef grown in the U.S. since 2019, but not allowed imports from the U.S. of beef sourced from Canada or Mexico because of the disease risk. The U.S. has recently introduced additional movement controls that identify and trace all cattle from Mexico and Canada to their farms of origin. Australian authorities were "satisfied the strengthened control measures put in place by the U.S. effectively manage biosecurity risks," Collins said. The timing of the new, reduced restrictions has not been finalized. Mr. Trump attacked Australian import restrictions on U.S. beef when he announced in April that tariffs of at least 10% would be placed on Australian imports, with steel and aluminum facing a 50% tariff. "Australia bans — and they're wonderful people, and wonderful everything — but they ban American beef," Mr. Trump told reporters then. "Yet we imported $3 billion 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 and, you know, I don't blame them, but we're doing the same thing right now." Opposition lawmaker David Littleproud said he suspected the government was endangering Australia's cattle industry to appease Mr. Trump. "I want to see the science and it should be predicated on science. I'm suspicious of the speed at which this has been done," Littleproud told reporters. "We need to give confidence to the industry, but also to you (the public): this is not just about animal welfare, this is about human welfare, this is about BSE potentially coming into this country and having a human impact, so I think it's important the government's very transparent about the science and I don't think it's even beyond the question to have an independent panel review that science to give confidence to everybody," he added. Around 70% of Australian beef is exported. Producers fear that export market would vanish overnight if diseases including mad cow or foot-and-mouth disease infected Australian cattle. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been only six BSE cases in U.S. cattle since the major international outbreak of the disease — which was centered in the U.K. and other European nations — in the late 1980s and early 1990s. One of those cows was imported from Canada and believed to have been infected there, and the other five, "were diagnosed with atypical BSE, which many researchers believe to be a sporadic illness not caused by contaminated feed," the CDC says. Will Evans, chief executive of Cattle Australia who represents more than 52,000 grass-fed beef producers across the nation, said he was confident the agriculture department had taken a cautious approach toward U.S. imports. "The department's undertaken a technical scientific assessment and we have to put faith in them. They've made this assessment themselves. They've said: 'We've looked at this, we've looked at the best science, this is a decision that we feel comfortable with,'" Evans said. "When you have a $75 billion (Australian $50 billion) industry relying on them not making this mistake, I'm sure they've been very cautious in their decision-making," he added. But Australian demand for U.S. beef is likely to remain low despite the eased restrictions, for reasons including a relatively weak Australian dollar. Evans, of Cattle Australia, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation he wasn't worried about the new government policy flooding Australia's domestic market with American beef. He said the U.S. domestic market currently relieds on imports of Australian beef, which he said was about 50 cents cheaper than U.S. beef per pound. "The likelihood of them (U.S.) turning around and looking to Australia as a really high value market [to export to] is very low," he said. "If I was an exporter of U.S. beef, I would be looking at Japan, Korea and China as being really viable and valuable markets. I don't really think Australia rates highly on that list." Simon Quilty, an analyst with Global Agri Trends, agreed that it was unlikely Australian consumers would soon see U.S. beef in on their grocery stores shelves. "Honestly, if there is a pound of U.S. beef shipped to Australia in the next three years, I will be gobsmacked," he told ABC. Beef prices have been rising in the U.S. for years, due to factors including prolonged drought and shrinking domestic herd numbers. The average price of a pound of ground beef in the U.S. rose to $6.12 in June, up nearly 12% from a year ago, according to U.S. government data. The average price of all uncooked beef steaks rose 8% to $11.49 per pound. Australia's opposition to any U.S. tariffs will be high on the agenda when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese secures his first face-to-face meeting with Mr. Trump. Albanese and Mr. Trump were to hold a one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of a Group of Seven summit in Canada last month, but the U.S. president left early. Albanese expects the pair will meet this year, although no date has been announced. The two countries have had a bilateral free trade deal for 20 years and the U.S. has maintained a trade surplus with Australia for decades.
RNZ News
6 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Australia lifts biosecurity controls after Trump critique
world politics 18 minutes ago Australia correspondent Nick Grimm spoke to Melissa Chan-Green about Australia lifting biosecurity controls over American beef imports after they were singled out by US President Donald Trump for imposing what he characterised as unfair trade barriers.
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
American carmaker puts shocking price tag on US tariffs
American carmaker puts shocking price tag on US tariffs originally appeared on TheStreet. The U.S. auto industry has had a seat at the table from the beginning, so when President Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs on auto imports, it didn't take the big players by surprise. The U.S. auto industry, consisting of General Motors, Ford, and French conglomerate Stellantis — collectively known as the Detroit Big 3 — each praised the move at the time. 'For decades now, it has not been a level playing field for us automakers globally, with either tariffs or non-tariff trade barriers. So I think tariffs is one tool that the administration can use to level the playing field,' GM CEO Mary Barra has also stated that "leveling the playing field," as she put it, will wipe out between $4 billion and $5 billion in EBITDA this year. Ford has also praised the tariffs, with company execs saying it "supports the administration's goal to strengthen the U.S. economy by growing manufacturing." The reason for the support is that Ford makes more cars in America than anyone else. "Last year, we assembled over 300,000 more vehicles in the U.S. than our closest competitor. That includes 100% of all our full-size trucks," CEO Jim Farley said during the company's last earnings call. "In this new with the largest U.S. footprint will have a big advantage, and boy, is that true for Ford," he added. "It puts us in the pole position." Despite that advantage, Ford estimates tariffs will shave at least $1.5 billion off the company's EBITDA this year. Stellantis puts a $2.7 billion price tag on its tariff misery Stellantis has also spoken glowingly of President Trump's tariffs, but the company at the same time warned that the taxes present it with a major headwind. Stellantis — which owns Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and Chrysler — imported 564,000 vehicles last year, well ahead of Ford's 420,000 imports. Both imported fewer vehicles than GM, which imported 750,000 vehicles last year. 'With the new automotive sector tariffs now in effect, it will take our collective resilience and discipline to push through this challenging time,' new Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa said recently. On Monday, the company detailed precisely how challenging the tariffs have been when it released preliminary first-half sales figures. Stellantis expects a net loss of 2.3 billion euros ($2.68 billion) in the first half of the year due to pre-tax net charges and the early effects of U.S. the $2.7 billion figure includes charges for many different issues, Stellantis specifically charged 300 million euros ($350 million) to the tariff game in the first half of the year. Second-quarter shipments fell 6% to 1.4 million vehicles globally, while North American shipments are expected to decline by 109,000 units, a 25% annual decline, due to reduced manufacturing and shipments of imported vehicles. Net revenue in the first half fell to 74.3 billion euros from 85 billion last year (to $86.65 billion from $99.13 billion). More Automotive news: 1 in 5 new car shoppers are committing a big financial blunderFord's $570 million mistake hits one of its most popular models Stellantis () shares were down 1.7% to $9.04 per share at last check in early market trading Monday. Stellantis recommits to North America under new CEO Antonio Filosa Former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares left the company in late 2024, and new CEO Antonio Filosa started his tenure on Monday, June 23. Stellantis' choosing Filosa was an early signal that the U.S. market was one of the company's priorities, as he cut his teeth as head of the North American market. Under former CEO Carlos Tavares' leadership, Stellantis laid off American factory workers, shuffled its C-suite, and forced its U.S. brands to push products that American customers didn't like. Meanwhile, Filosa announced he would keep his title as director of North America as he moved the CEO's office to Detroit, Michigan. Stellantis revealed in May that it will build a $388 million "megahub" in Van Buren Township, just outside Detroit. When the facility is completed in 2027, it "will feature cutting-edge technology" and will probably look more like an Amazon fulfillment warehouse than a typical auto parts distribution carmaker puts shocking price tag on US tariffs first appeared on TheStreet on Jul 22, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jul 22, 2025, where it first appeared. Errore nel recupero dei dati Effettua l'accesso per consultare il tuo portafoglio Errore nel recupero dei dati Errore nel recupero dei dati Errore nel recupero dei dati Errore nel recupero dei dati
South China Morning Post
22-07-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Trump's tariffs have a silver lining as nations move to free up their economies
Most people hate and ridicule Donald Trump 's universal tariffs . But if there is a silver lining, it's that they expose the hypocrisy and self-defeating internal trade barriers that countries or trading blocs have built up over a long time, resulting in a huge drag on their own economies. That loss in potential earnings could equal or even exceed the tariffs Trump has imposed on them. Advertisement This has been the case, for example, in Canada China and the European Union . The tariff crisis has brought significant movement in removing barriers to commerce in Canada and China. As for the EU, it's harder to say. Mario Draghi's report on EU competitiveness made a big splash when it was released last September. It makes valuable suggestions on breaking down trade barriers – including differences in standards and regulations, and recognition of accredited qualifications – between member states. But in the intervening months, Brussels seems to have moved on to 'harmonising' the economies of its member states on a common war footing, based on unrealistically high defence spending of 5 per cent of GDP. Nato and the war economy may be taking precedence over commerce and trade. 09:42 Trump promises to bring US manufacturing back from China, but will his tariffs work? Trump promises to bring US manufacturing back from China, but will his tariffs work? China's 'unified domestic market' In the mid-2010s, Maanshan was a fast-growing prefecture-level city in Anhui province, in central China. According to a World Bank report, private firms wanting to bid for mining rights there had to obtain approval from seven different local departments. Only local firms were successful, perhaps because officials favoured those with local connections, or because they were unfamiliar with outside companies.
Wall Street Journal
20-07-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
An Economic Agenda for the Class of 2028
Despite their political differences, Donald Trump and Joe Biden seem to agree on economics. Both believe the White House should direct the American economy by favoring companies and courtiers. Younger potential leaders from both parties with 2028 ambitions should be positioning themselves as alternatives to Trump-and-Biden-omics. Presidents Trump and Biden have been big spenders, exploding the national debt. Both erected barriers to trade to protect friendly interests, which were then supposed to dance to presidential tunes. Both viewed the U.S. economy nostalgically and favored older industries. Mr. Trump ignores America's competitive edge in the services trade, and Mr. Biden embraced the progressive wing's suspicion of tech.
