Australia’s largest trading partner is China, but the United States has been Australia’s largest market for exported beef for most of the last 25 years. Beef was one of the Australian exports targeted by China in 2020. Rather than applying tariffs, four Australian red meat abattoirs were banned from selling meat in China due to labelling and health certificate requirements.
When the Chinese tariffs and bans on Australian wine, barley, beef, timber, coal, cotton and lobsters took hold, Australia diversified its export markets. USSC modelling shows that Saudi Arabia overtook China to become Australia’s largest importer of barley, Vietnam imported the most cotton and the United Kingdom and the United States imported the most wine.
In 2024, the United States accounted for 30.7% of Australia’s beef exports (up from 17% in 2022). Agricultural issues have been a sticking point in the US-Australia trade relationship for decades. While US tariffs or restrictions may limit imports of Australian beef, Australia’s beef exports globally may increase as they diversify their markets, like they did following China’s restrictions in 2020.
