The Trump administration's higher tariffs and protectionist trade policies have prompted widespread calls across Australia to re-assess bilateral relations and seek to expand trade partnerships within the Asa-Pacific region.
Despite being on opposite sides of the world, and separated by vast oceans and time zones, Australia and the United States have been closely aligned economically and militarily for decades. However, what many believed was an enduring friendship has been tested since U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a 10 percent baseline tariff on most goods imported from Australia.
The tariffs have been imposed despite Australia having a free trade agreement with the U.S., which has allowed U.S. exports to enter the country without paying tariffs since Jan 1, 2005.
"We felt a little bit isolated and a little bit disappointed that a tariff was put onto Australian goods, especially Australian red meat. We've had a free trade agreement with the U.S. for quite a while," said Robert Mackenzie, managing director of centuries-old cattle breeder Macka's Australian Black Angus Beef.
In the short term, Mackenzie fears, Trump's tariffs will hurt the Australian beef industry, which exported 2.7 billion U.S. dollars worth of beef to the American market in 2024.
"If the demand in U.S. beef slows, that has a flow on effect for small producers, large producers, everyone. We'd have to find other markets but in the meantime, that could potentially impact Australian red meat prices globally," said Mackenzie.
Former Australian Minister of Trade, Investment, and Tourism Andrew Robb, who was instrumental in formalizing Australia's free trade agreement with China in 2015, suggested strengthening trade relations with China to deal with tariffs.
"In our trade with China, they've bought 250 billion dollars of our goods and services. The U.S. bought 30 billion. So in a trading sense, you are right, we've got to use our relationship with China," he said.
Experts believe that as Australia continues to pivot toward the Asia-Pacific market and deepen ties with existing and potential partners, new opportunities will emerge for Australian exporters, including in the agriculture sector.
"I think there are a lot of opportunities for our industry going forward, be it China or other export markets around the world," said Mitchell Mcnab, owner of McNab Orchards in Ardmona, Victoria.
After years of negotiations, China recently granted access to its domestic market for apples grown on Australia's mainland. Last month, Chinese authorities also approved a dozen Australian sheep and goat meat exporters to sell their products in China.
Mackenzie said that although they have brought uncertainties, the U.S. tariffs have already created opportunities for his industry.
"We've seen more people or more customers around the world reach out to Australia, again knocking on our door saying 'What have you got that's available? We are interested in talking,' and our biggest comeback is obviously China," he said.
Allan Patience, an honorary fellow in School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne, said the tariffs had presented Australia with an opportunity to focus more on the countries within its own region.
"I'm quite grateful to Donald Trump in a sense. He's challenged Australia, or he's challenging Australia, in a way that we had not anticipated from America," he said.
Australia looks to new partnerships as US tariffs undermine bilateral trade
