Donald Trump ditches tariff plan in bid to slash the cost of Aussie steaks in the United States
Australian beef will now be exempt from Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs after the US President placed a 10 per cent tax on the billion-dollar export.
The White House released a statement saying the President had signed off on the exemption in a wide-ranging executive order.
It applies to a series of food and agriculture products including coffee, tea, tropical fruits, coca, bananas, oranges, tomato and beef, as well as coal, petrol and oil products, uranium and many other chemicals.
The major backflip comes as the Trump administration focuses on alleviating the cost of living in the US.
‘Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order modifying the scope of the reciprocal tariffs that he first announced on April 2, 2025,’ the statement read.
‘Specifically, certain qualifying agricultural products will no longer be subject to those tariffs.’
Notably, the executive order is retroactive, meaning importers will get a refund on the levy they have already paid.
Australia exports more than $2billion worth of beef to the US every year.
Australian beef will be exempt from Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs after the US President placed a 10 per cent tax on the billion-dollar export
The White House released a statement saying the President had signed off on the exemption in a wide-ranging executive order (pictured, an Aussie grazier with his cattle in Queensland)
However, experts remain skeptical as to how the tariffs will impact Australia’s beef industry, which has benefitted from the levies.
On April 2, Trump announced Australian beef would be impacted as he announced his tariff policy.
‘Australia bans – and they’re wonderful people, and wonderful everything – but they ban American beef,’ he said.
‘Yet we imported $3billion 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 starting at midnight tonight.’
Following the announcement, Mutooroo Pastoral Company managing director James Morgan told Daily Mail that things could have been worse.
‘If it was a ban this discussion would be a lot more serious and there would be a lot of disappointed and angry people,’ he said.
While the news of the tariff was still disappointing, industry figures said American consumers would be harder hit than Australian beef farmers.
On April 2, Trump announced Australian beef (pictured) would be impacted as he announced his tariff policy.
The US needs Australia’s lean, grass-fed beef to make hamburgers, because drought in America has resulted in the culling of herds and a shortage of product.
Grass-fed beef made up 96 per cent of Australia’s beef exports to the US in 2024.
Exports also surged in 2025, due to a decline in beef production in the US and higher tariffs on beef producers in Chile, Argentina and Brazil.
