Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday that a decision to ease rules on beef imports from the U.S. was not prompted by U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump this week said the U.S. would sell "so much" beef to Australia after Canberra announced the relaxation of restrictions,

Trump attacked Australian import restrictions on U.S. beef when he announced in April that tariffs of at least 10% would be placed on Australian imports, with steel and aluminum facing a 50% tariff. “Australia bans — and they’re wonderful people, and wonderful everything — but they ban American beef,” Trump told reporters then.

The US recently introduced additional movement controls that identify and trace all cattle from Mexico and Canada -- the ones banned by Australia -- to their farms of origin.