Australia on Thursday said it would loosen biosecurity rules for U.S. beef, something analysts predicted would not significantly increase U.S. shipments because Australia is a major beef producer and exporter whose prices are much lower.

“We are going to sell so much to Australia because this is undeniable and irrefutable Proof that U.S. Beef is the Safest and Best in the entire World,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

“The other Countries that refuse our magnificent Beef are ON NOTICE,” the post continued.

Australia imports minimal U.S. beef

Trump has attempted to renegotiate trade deals with numerous countries he says have taken advantage of the United States – a characterization many economists dispute.

“For decades, Australia imposed unjustified barriers on U.S. beef,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement, calling Australia’s decision a “major milestone in lowering trade barriers and securing market access for U.S. farmers and ranchers.”

Australia is not a significant importer of beef but the United States is and a production slump is forcing it to step up purchases.

Last year, Australia shipped almost 400,000 metric tons of beef worth $2.9 billion to the United States, with just 269 tons of U.S. product moving the other way.

Relaxed restrictions unrelated to trade talks says Australia

Australian officials say the relaxation of restrictions was not part of any trade negotiations but the result of a years-long assessment of U.S. biosecurity practices.

Canberra has restricted U.S. beef imports since 2003 due to concerns about bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease. Since 2019, it has allowed in meat from animals born, raised and slaughtered in the U.S. but few suppliers were able to prove that their cattle had not been in Canada and Mexico.

On Wednesday, Australia’s agriculture ministry said U.S. cattle traceability and control systems had improved enough that Australia could accept beef from cattle born in Canada or Mexico and slaughtered in the United States.

The decision has caused some concern in Australia, where biosecurity is seen as essential to prevent diseases and pests from ravaging the farm sector.

“We need to know if (the government) is sacrificing our high biosecurity standards just so Prime Minister Anthony Albanese can obtain a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump,” shadow agriculture minister David Littleproud said in a statement.

Australia, which imports more from the U.S. than it exports, faces a 10 per cent across-the-board U.S. tariff, as well 50 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium. Trump has also threatened to impose a 200 per cent tariff on pharmaceuticals.

Asked whether the change would help achieve a trade deal, Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell said: “I’m not too sure.”

“We haven’t done this in order to entice the Americans into a trade agreement,” he said. “We think that they should do that anyway.”

— Reporting by Kanishka Singh, Ismail Shakil and Peter Hobson

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U.S. Congressman Don Bacon told local media 75-80 people were detained.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid happened at a plant of Glenn Valley Foods. The food packaging company said it was surprised by the raid and had followed the rules regarding immigration status.

Processor says it followed immigration rules

Chad Hartmann, president of Glenn Valley Foods in Omaha, said the plant that was raided used E-Verify, a federal database used for checking employees’ immigration status. He told Reuters that when he said this to a federal agent, the agent responded “the system is broken” and urged him to contact his local congressional representative.

ICE officers have been intensifying efforts in recent weeks to deliver on U.S. President Donald Trump’s promise of record-level deportations. The White House has demanded the agency sharply increase arrests of migrants in the U.S. illegally, sources have told Reuters.

Tensions boiled over in Los Angeles over the weekend when protesters took to the streets after ICE arrested migrants at Home Depot stores, a garment factory and a warehouse, according to migrant advocates.

Local police in Omaha said they were informed by immigration officials about the raid in advance while the company said it got no notice about the operation ahead of time.

Allegations of large-scale illegal employment

Hartmann said federal agents had a warrant that said they had identified 107 people who they believed were using fraudulent documents.

“This was the largest worksite enforcement operation in Nebraska under the Trump Administration,” the Homeland Security Department said on X, adding no law enforcement official was hurt.

ICE said a criminal investigation was ongoing into what immigration officials called a large-scale employment of immigrants who are present in the U.S. illegally.

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and federal law enforcement partners, executed a federal search warrant at Glenn Valley Foods, today, based on an ongoing criminal investigation into the large-scale employment of aliens without authorization to work in the United States,” an ICE spokesperson told an ABC News affiliate.

More than half of all meatpacking workers in the U.S. are immigrants, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a think tank.

Rights advocates, including the ACLU of Nebraska, condemned the raid.

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The prime minister announced on Monday that he will step down in the coming months after nine years in power, bowing to pressure from lawmakers alarmed by the party’s miserable showing in pre-election polls.

Trudeau said that he would stay on both as prime minister and Liberal leader until the party chooses a new chief.

“After a robust and secure nation-wide process, the Liberal Party of Canada will choose a new leader on March 9, and be ready to fight and win the 2025 election,” the party said in a statement.

The party’s National Board of Directors formally met Thursday evening to discuss and outline the initial rules of the upcoming leadership race.

The leadership vote will conclude on March 9 and a new leader will be announced on the same date, the party said.

The cut-off date to become a registered Liberal and be eligible to vote in the leadership race will be Jan. 27, according to the Liberal Party. The entrance fee for a candidate to join the leadership race will be C$350,000, the party added.

The Globe and Mail reported late on Thursday that former finance minister Chrystia Freeland and former central banker Mark Carney were poised to seek the Liberal Party leadership, while Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne remained uncertain over whether to join the race. The report cited sources.

Trudeau announced on Monday that parliament would be prorogued, or suspended, until March 24.

That meant an election was unlikely before May at the earliest, so Trudeau was expected to remain in charge–at least initially—of dealing with the threat of crippling tariffs once U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

Trump has been critical of Trudeau, who in turn has criticized the president-elect’s proposed tariffs, with the Canadian saying they will harm both nations.

Trump has also referred to Canada as a U.S. state, with Trudeau saying there was not “a snowball’s chance in hell” that Canada would become part of the United States.

The next Canadian election must be held by Oct. 20 and polls show that voters—angry over high prices and a shortage of affordable housing—are set to elect the opposition Conservatives and hand the Liberals a resounding defeat, no matter who leads the party.

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“As you know, they’ve announced a few days ago that they are going to move a lot of their manufacturing business to Mexico,” Trump said at an event held in western Pennsylvania. “I am just notifying John Deere right now that if you do that, we are putting a 200 per cent tariff on everything that you want to sell into the United States.”

Earlier this year, John Deere announced that it was laying off hundreds of employees in the American Midwest and increasing its production capacity in Mexico, a decision that upset workers and some political leaders.

Trump has frequently said he would slap automakers that move their production to Mexico with a 200 per cent tariff, but this appears to be the first time he has extended that threat to an agricultural equipment manufacturer.

Shares in John Deere fell more than 1.5 per cent in after-hours trade on Monday after closing up 0.75 per cent. A representative for the company did not respond to a request for comment.

Speaking to a gathering of farmers in a rural area outside of Pittsburgh, Trump also said he would press Chinese President Xi Jinping to honor a deal to purchase $50 billion (C$67.7 billion) of U.S. agricultural goods.

During the so-called “Phase 1” trade deal inked between China and the United States during Trump’s 2017 to 2021 term, the United States agreed to cut some tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for pledges to purchase more American agricultural products, energy and manufactured goods. At the time, Trump said China would buy $50 billion in U.S. agricultural products, though Chinese purchases fell well short of that figure.

“Probably my first call – I’m going to call President Xi – I’m going to say you have to honor the deal you made. We made the deal, you buy $50 billion worth of American farm products, and I guarantee you, he will buy it, 100 per cent he will buy it,” Trump said.

Farmers and industrial workers are a crucial part of Trump’s coalition, and turning out these constituencies will be important if he is to beat Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, in the Nov. 5 election. That is especially true in Pennsylvania, where polls consistently show a razor-thin race.

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“As you know, they’ve announced a few days ago that they are going to move a lot of their manufacturing business to Mexico,” Trump said at an event held in western Pennsylvania. “I am just notifying John Deere right now that if you do that, we are putting a 200 per cent tariff on everything that you want to sell into the United States.”

Earlier this year, John Deere announced that it was laying off hundreds of employees in the American Midwest and increasing its production capacity in Mexico, a decision that upset workers and some political leaders.

Trump has frequently said he would slap automakers that move their production to Mexico with a 200 per cent tariff, but this appears to be the first time he has extended that threat to an agricultural equipment manufacturer.

Shares in John Deere fell more than 1.5 per cent in after-hours trade on Monday after closing up 0.75 per cent. A representative for the company did not respond to a request for comment.

Speaking to a gathering of farmers in a rural area outside of Pittsburgh, Trump also said he would press Chinese President Xi Jinping to honor a deal to purchase $50 billion (C$67.7 billion) of U.S. agricultural goods.

During the so-called “Phase 1” trade deal inked between China and the United States during Trump’s 2017 to 2021 term, the United States agreed to cut some tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for pledges to purchase more American agricultural products, energy and manufactured goods. At the time, Trump said China would buy $50 billion in U.S. agricultural products, though Chinese purchases fell well short of that figure.

“Probably my first call – I’m going to call President Xi – I’m going to say you have to honor the deal you made. We made the deal, you buy $50 billion worth of American farm products, and I guarantee you, he will buy it, 100 per cent he will buy it,” Trump said.

Farmers and industrial workers are a crucial part of Trump’s coalition, and turning out these constituencies will be important if he is to beat Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, in the Nov. 5 election. That is especially true in Pennsylvania, where polls consistently show a razor-thin race.

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“It is very important, very vital, and very urgent that we hear the perspectives from the CEOs at these companies and get the full picture of why prices have gone up for consumers and down for ranchers,” Scott, a Democrat from Georgia, said in a statement.

“In addition to this panel of CEOs, we will be convening a panel of ranchers to hear what consolidation in the beef industry has done to their bottom lines and viability,” he added.

Increased prices and profits for meatpacking companies have threatened to amplify Washington’s scrutiny of the U.S. meatpacking industry, as the Biden administration has criticized a lack of competition in the sector.

U.S. President Joe Biden announced a plan in January for new rules to bolster competition and stop “exploitation” in the sector amid concerns that a small group of meat packers was capable of dictating beef, pork and poultry prices, adding to inflation pressures caused by rising labour and transportation costs and by COVID 19-related supply constraints.

In January, the chairman of the House of Representatives subcommittee on economic and consumer policy sent a letter to major U.S. meat processing companies, seeking information on rising prices and profits.

— Reporting for Reuters by Kanishka Singh in Washington, D.C.

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David Bennett received the transplant on Jan 7.

His condition began deteriorating several days ago, the hospital said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that Bennett was given “compassionate palliative care” after it became clear that he would not recover.

Bennett was able to communicate with his family during his final hours, the hospital said.

Bennett first came to UMMC as a patient in October and was placed on a heart-lung bypass machine to keep him alive, but he was deemed ineligible for a conventional heart transplant.

After Bennett was implanted with a pig heart that had been genetically modified to prevent rejection in a first-of-its-kind surgery, his son called the procedure “a miracle.”

The surgery, performed by a team at the hospital, was among the first to demonstrate the feasibility of a pig-to-human heart transplant, a field made possible by new gene editing tools.

For Bennett, the procedure was his last option.

“Before consenting to receive the transplant, Mr. Bennett was fully informed of the procedure’s risks, and that the procedure was experimental with unknown risks and benefits,” the hospital said.

On Dec. 31, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency authorization for the surgery in the hope of saving his life.

The transplanted heart performed “very well for several weeks without any signs of rejection,” the hospital said on Wednesday.

Pigs have long been a tantalizing source of potential transplants because their organs are so similar to humans.

Prior efforts at pig-to-human transplants had failed because of genetic differences that caused organ rejection or viruses that posed an infection risk.

— Reporting for Reuters by Kanishka Singh in Bangalore.

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