US set to lower tariffs on beef as Trump cops cost-of-living backlash

3 weeks ago 3

Washington: US President Donald Trump is poised to cut tariffs on food and agricultural products including Australian beef as he responds to growing unrest from American consumers over the cost of living.

A White House official indicated to this masthead that wide-ranging changes to tariffs would be unveiled late on Saturday (AEDT), including on beef - one of Australia’s major exports to the US.

The US is the biggest buyer of Australian beef.

Separately, Bloomberg News reported Trump would sign an executive order on Saturday (AEDT) reducing tariffs on beef, tomatoes, coffee and bananas, although the exact nature and scope of the changes was not yet clear.

Earlier, United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer flagged the changes, though he said they would be targeted at products that “we simply don’t make in the US”, naming coffee, cocoa and bananas.

The US produces its own beef, but not enough, and relies on imports of leaner, grain-fed beef from Australia, among other countries.

The latest data shows exports of Australian beef to the US have surged to record highs in 2025 despite being subject to the 10 per cent tariff on almost all Australian goods that Trump announced on April 2.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met President Donald Trump at the White House last month.

Changes to US beef tariffs would not necessarily be advantageous to Australia, as Australia currently enjoys a relatively low tariff compared to other countries such as Canada and Brazil, from which the US also imports a significant amount of beef.

The expected move on beef and other tariffs comes as the Trump administration inked trade deals with several South American nations, as well as Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

The US tariff on Swiss goods will be cut from 39 per cent to 15 per cent, while the White House said Switzerland and Liechtenstein would invest at least $US200 billion ($306b) in the US.

These revisions come as Trump faces pressure from voters - as well as from the Republican Party - to address Americans’ concerns about affordability, which was one of his campaign pledges at last year’s election.

United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said tariff reductions would focus on food products not made in the US.

Trump has rejected the idea that tariffs are contributing to price increases, and as recently as last week said he did not want to hear complaints about affordability because “everything is down”.

However, grocery prices have continued to rise roughly in line with inflation, which has ticked up to 3 per cent over the course of 2025.

Trump identified beef as a particular concern during an interview with Fox News this week. “The only thing is beef. Beef is a little high [in price] because the ranchers are doing good,” he said.

“Coffee, we’re going to lower some tariffs, we’re going to have some coffee come in. We’re going to take care of all this stuff very quickly, very easily. It’s surgical, it’s beautiful to watch.”

Trump has been under pressure over the rising cost of groceries, despite his claim that groceries are “way down” in price.

A pound of ground beef has increased from $US5.67 to $US6.33 over the 12 months to September - an increase of 13.5 per cent - the US Bureau of Labour Statistics says.

Last week’s elections, in which Democrats won gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, and had successes elsewhere, have turbocharged concerns that cost-of-living is becoming a major weakness for Republicans.

Senior figures in the administration have conceded there is an issue. Trump’s trade and manufacturing adviser Peter Navarro, a strong proponent of tariffs, told News Nation there had to be an honest public debate “so that people can have hope about the trajectory that we’re moving in”.

Navarro said he was meeting with a taskforce once a week in the White House Roosevelt Room to formulate “an attack plan to deal with beef prices”.

In a statement, the White House said grocery prices were trending in the right direction and some staples were coming down in price.

“The Trump administration will not rest until the high prices that resulted from Democrat policies are fully reined in,” it said. “We’re making progress, and the best is yet to come.”

The office of the US Trade Representative was contacted for comment.

More to come