Australian beef farmers say Trump tariffs to boost price of US hamburgers

MOSS VALE, Australia - At a cattle auction in Australias lush Southern Highlands, an auctioneer shouts from a gantry over the din of nearly 2,000 cows waiting to be bought.

Prospective owners in felted hats bid up prices with a nod of the head, and business is brisk, despite U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday imposing a 10% import tariff on Australian goods and singling out the countrys beef exports for criticism.

Australian beef farmers, traders and industry groups said on Thursday they would pass on the extra costs of U.S. tariffs to the American consumer, pushing up the prices of hamburgers and steaks.

The effect on our market here today ... we havent seen it, said Dhugald McDowall, of livestock agency Elders Cleary McDowall, at the Southern Regional Livestock Exchange in Moss Vale, around two hours by road from Sydney.

It does make the commodity thats going into America a lot dearer for their own consumers. So I think in the short term, it could be quite detrimental to the U.S. economy.

Australia exports beef worth a record A$4 billion ($2.52 billion) annually to the United States - its largest market - while banning U.S. fresh beef products since 2003 due to the detection of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, known as mad cow disease, in U.S. cattle.

That has drawn the ire of Trump, who said on Thursday Australia wont take any of our beef as he announced tariffs on the country.

PRIZED BEEF

Australian beef is prized by U.S. fast food chains for its lower fat content, which is combined with fattier U.S. beef to produce hamburgers with the ideal fat content.

Under regulations from United States Department of Agriculture, hamburgers and ground beef cannot have a fat content of more than 30%.

Garry Edwards, chair of Cattle Australia,