US President Donald Trump has backflipped on tariffs on beef – Australia’s largest export to the United States.
He signed an order this morning to lower US tariffs on agriculture imports such as beef, bananas, coffee and tomatoes, as his government comes under pressure from voters grappling with the escalating cost of living.
These products are now exempted from his “reciprocal” tariffs, imposed this year to address behavior deemed unfair, after the administration considered issues like the US capacity — or lack thereof — to produce certain goods.
But other duties in place will continue to apply.
The new tariff exemptions are backdated to take effect on November 13, according to the order published by the White House.
The Trump administration has been stepping up efforts to convince Americans of the economy’s strength as affordability concerns emerged as a key issue in this month’s elections for New York City mayor, and the governors of New Jersey and Virginia.
Democrats swept all three of those races, with an intense focus on cost of living issues.
The list of tariff exemptions published this morning also covers other produce such as avocados, coconuts and pineapples.
Since returning to the presidency in January, Mr Trump has imposed sweeping tariffs on US trading partners, sparking warnings from economists that these could fuel inflation and weigh on growth.
While there has not been a sharp uptick in overall consumer inflation, policymakers have noted that tariffs have pushed up prices of certain goods.
They expect the effect of higher levies to continue filtering through the world’s biggest economy.
Beef prices have also been rising this year in part due to a tighter supply of cattle.
The Trump administration has acknowledged affordability worries that Americans are facing, with Mr Trump’s top economic advisor nodding to a loss of purchasing power in recent years.
“That’s something that we’re going to fix, and we’re going to fix it right away,” Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, said this week.
Australia exports more than $2 billion worth of beef to the United States each year.
Despite the tariff, Australian beef exports to the US have jumped sharply in 2025.
The surge is being driven by a major drop in US beef production and significantly higher tariffs on rival suppliers such as Brazil.
American cattle numbers have fallen to their lowest point since the 1950s, while several wetter-than-usual seasons in Australia have helped local producers rebuild and expand their herds.
Trump’s desperate demand after Epstein leak
This comes as Mr Trump has demanded an investigation into links between former US President Bill Clinton and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
That’s despite a trove of new emails being released in recent days which have highlighted the links between Epstein and himself.
Both Mr Clinton and Mr Trump met Epstein. There is no evidence either did anything illegal in connection with the late sex offender. Mr Trump did not specify why Mr Clinton should be investigated. But he has called the Epstein files a “hoax’ pursued by Democrats.
Mr Trump’s urging of a probe of Mr Clinton further erodes the Justice Department’s nominal independence from the White House as well as contradicting its own conclusion that there was no further “incriminating evidence” in the files.
A key Trump backer has said his reluctance to release the files was now a “huge miscalculation”.
Mr Trump’s Friday, US time, announcement comes as the BBC has apologised to the US president after it admitted to misleadingly editing one of his speeches.
But in a clear push back against Mr Trump, the UK broadcaster has refused to cave into a key demand from the US president’s lawyers – that it pay Mr Trump “appropriate compensation” or risk a $US1 billion ($1.5bn) lawsuit.
Mr Trump has yet to respond to the BBC’s apology but last week he said he felt he had an “obligation” to sue.
Trump demands Clinton be investigated
The Epstein files have roared back into the spotlight following the end of the US shutdown with a new push to release all the documents on the subject.
The US Justice Department has insisted there is nothing else of relevance in the files – but that hasn’t satisfied the MAGA base who have spent years being told that all manner of prominent figures might be implicated in them.
For days, new emails and texts from Epstein have been released where he mentions Mr Trump.
But on Friday, Mr Trump demanded US Attorney-General Pam Bondi investigate another president – Bill Clinton.
“Now that the Democrats are using the Epstein Hoax, involving Democrats, not Republicans, to try and deflect from their disastrous SHUTDOWN … I will be asking A.G. Pam Bondi, and the Department of Justice, together with our great patriots at the FBI, to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him.
“This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats,” he added.
Mr Summers served in Democratic administrations, was a friend of Epstein and has criticised Mr Trump. Reid Hoffman, who co-founded website LinkedIn and also knew Epstein, is a major donor to the Democratic Party. JP Morgan Chase is a large US bank that had dealings with Epstein.
None of those mentioned have been accused of any crimes in relation to Epstein.
As with Mr Trump and Epstein, there are images of Mr Clinton and Epstein at events. But like Mr Trump, Mr Clinton has consistently denied any wrong doing.
The US president did not suggest any investigation should also focus on himself and his dealings with Epstein.
In the email tranche released last week, Epstein refuted claims Mr Clinton had been to his private island – where it was alleged sex crimes took place – saying the former president had “never, ever” visited.
Ms Bondi dutifully said she would investigate, even saying “thank you” in a social media post to Mr Trump following his diktat.
“As with all matters, the Department will pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people”.
Yet, in July, the Justice Department said one of the reasons it wasn’t go to release the files was because “We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties”.
‘Huge miscalculation’
There is growing pressure on the White House – from both Republicans and Democrats – to release all the documents the government holds on Epstein.
Marjorie Taylor-Greene, a Republican politician popular with the MAGA base, said on Friday, US time, she was perplexed by Mr Trump’s reluctance to release all the files.
“I think it’s a huge miscalculation,” she told CBS.
“I believe the women and the women have said over and over again that Donald Trump did nothing wrong”.
BBC apologises
Prior to Mr TRump’s probe demand, the BBC apologised for an episode of UK current affairs program Panorama, broadcast in 2024. It featured Mr Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021, where he claimed the election he had lost had been stolen. Hours later the Capitol was stormed.
The program spliced two clips together of Mr Trump’s speech, which some have said made it sound like he made call to violent action. But the clip edited out a section where the US president said people should protest peacefully.
Shortly after the scandal broke the BBC’s head Tim Davie and the news chief Deborah Turness both resigned.
Trump’s three BBC demands
A letter sent last week to the BBC from Mr Trump’s lawyers said the edit was “false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory” and the US president had been the victim of “overwhelming financial and reputational harm”.
It made three demands to prevent further legal action: that the program be taken down, the BBC apologise and compensation be made to Mr Trump.
“If the BBC does not comply … President Trump will be left with no alternative but to enforce his legal and equitable rights … including by filing legal action for no less than ($1US billion) in damages,” the letter states.
The BBC has now committed to not rebroadcast the program. BBC Chair Samir Shah has also personally apologised to Mr Trump.
Trump demand BBC has refused
The BBC said the edit had given “the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action”.
However, the BBC has said it will not pay compensation to Mr Trump as “we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim”.
The BBC is a public service broadcaster with much of its funding coming directly from a fee on British viewers. As such, any compensation to Mr Trump would essentially be from the pockets of UK taxpayers.
It’s not clear if the BBC’s apology and commitment to not re-show the program will be enough to placate Mr Trump.
On Tuesday, US time, Mr Trump suggested he would sue no matter what the BBC did.
“I think I have an obligation to do it, you can’t allow people to do that,” he said during an interview on Fox News.
“They defrauded the public and they’ve admitted it. This is within one of our great allies, supposedly our great ally.”
Some have suggested Mr Trump’s legal threats may be relatively weak.
To sue in the US, he would have to prove that the Panorama program – which is primarily for a UK audience – was broadcast in America. Even if that was the case, Mr Trump – who is the US president and extremely wealthy – would have to show the program caused him financial and reputational damage.
If the case was moved instead to the UK courts a successful payout would likely be far lower. However, it may not make it that far either as too much time had passed between the initial broadcast and possible legal action.
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