New Zealand's trade minister is seeking an urgent meeting with his US counterpart, after US president Donald Trump said he will impose a tariff of 15pc on New Zealand, up from 10pc on 2 April.
The tariff harms exporters and consumers from both countries and, while New Zealand has a trade surplus with the US, it is a modest surplus of about $500mn, New Zealand's trade minister Todd McClay said.
The tariff on New Zealand starts on 7 August, which will make Australian beef more desirable to US buyers.
New Zealand has processed 2.17mn cattle as of 12 July, down by more than 5pc less from the same period in the year earlier, the latest production data from the New Zealand Meat Board show. The New Zealand cattle herd came in at 9.56mn in January, down from 9.58mn in the same month a year earlier. The cattle herd is shrinking, mostly because of land use change, the US Department of Agriculture said.
Australia has exported 3,448t of beef to New Zealand so far this year, almost three times the amount exported in January-July 2024, as the country's shrinking cattle herd increases its reliance on imports, Australian Bureau of Statistics data show. A 10pc tariff on Australian beef started on 2 April, and this baseline rate is unchanged in the recent announcement.
The higher tariffs on New Zealand, combined 76.4pc tariffs on Brazil and US suspensions of cattle imports from Mexico in May because of disease concerns, leave US buyers with few alternative import sources. Australia remains one of the better-placed beef-producing countries for now.
