What do Australians buy from the US, and what do we sell to them?

But most Australians are not in the business of exporting things to the United States.

The US buys 3.57 per cent of Australian exports, according to 2023 data.

While that figure doesn’t compare to China or Japan, it is still a lot of money.

America sold $32 billion of goods to Australia. By contrast, America only bought $21 billion from us.

But there’s a substantial difference in what America buys from Australia, and vice versa.

What do we sell to America?

Australia’s exports are largely raw materials, measured by the tonne.

But the US is selling finished products, where single items cost thousands of dollars.

The most valuable Australian export is beef, either frozen or fresh.

Australia sold about $2.7 billion worth of beef to the United States in 2023, much of it going to McDonald’s.

Lamb and goat accounted for another $1.4 billion.

Australia’s second most valuable export to the United States is vaccines and other pharmaceuticals.

In 2023, Australian exports in that category exceeded $1.6 billion.

Much of this comes from CSL, a Melbourne company that makes flu shots.

Raw metals like aluminium, gold, nickel, lead and zinc are also big exports to the United States.

Wine, wheat, therapeutic and orthopedic appliances, uranium and animal fats also get sold to the States.

What do we buy from America?

Vehicles are the biggest export to Australia from the US. Australia bought $2.2 billion in cars, $2.15 billion in trucks and $1.1 billion in aircraft. 

Gold was second on the list, with Australians buying $2.55 billion in American gold.

Also on the list are vaccines, medical instruments, crude oil and medicine.

And much of American exports are specialised, high-dollar machinery and technology.

Medical instruments, gas turbines, harvesting machinery and x-ray equipment are also sold.

But the real impact of Trump’s tariffs on Australia are indirect but very substantial.

Australia doesn’t sell that much to the US, but the raw materials it sells to China, Japan, South Korea and South-East Asia get turned into products that then get sold to Americans.

So the massive tariffs placed on other countries may impact how much they buy from Australia.

How Australia may be better off

But there’s a hidden advantage to this trade war too.

Many countries are placing reciprocal tariffs on the US, which makes American exports more expensive.

And the rest of the world may find Australia’s untaxed crude oil, soybeans and beef more appealing than the American exports they are currently buying.

But the adage is that there are no winners in a trade war. If America goes into a recession, odds are Australia will too.