What is bad in this case is the fact that the large bloated supermarket chains, alrady weighed down by massive profits, increasing daily, will buy the meat from those overseas sources at 50-60 cents a kilo but present the samer food for sale at $14 a kilo. That's what is wrong with any system that allows for this kind of market manipulation which is commonplace in 2010 with no controls on such activities from any government source or consumer organisation.
As for local lamb, the less said the better. Ask the farmers what Woolworths pay for lambs and try and see any natural correltion between that price and what they gouge from those comnsumers who still think that the big supermarkets are cheap. They aren't.
My objection to this possible new action is the identification of the product source and the supermarket gouging that will follow as sure as night follows day. They can't help themselves and governments don't give a damn

Hey Belly, read How to Kill a Country: Australia's Devastating Trade deal with the United States...FTAs are a mechanism for rich and powerful countries like the US to manipulate smaller countries like ours into selling cheap and buying dear, I'd post my analysis of the FTA but it's about 8,000 words too long. as for the wisdom of our political and business leaders, your comment is risible.

John DG,

"Australia's Devastating Trade deal with the United States"

From where I'm standing Australia's economy looks far from devastated. To be frank, neither is Canada's or Mexico's.

After the FTA with the EU South Africa's economy grew at a "devastating" 9% p.a. eclipsing even China.

Perhaps you could back up your statement that the US is getting Aus to sell cheap and buy dear, (substantial quantities)

I would guess that you are one of the anti globalisation supporters?

First John dg then rexw
John it is you who jest, have no understanding of the issue, and why did you not address the henny penny syndrome? that we could import mad cow?
Rexw do you think America or any country likely to sell here can produce beef and sell it at 50 cent a kg?
History of such trade is clear, we sell Americans beef cheaper than they can produce it, for other uses, like hamburger meat.
Northern NSW started the trade with cracker dairy cows.
Remember trade is based on both sides excepting the product and the price.
I get no joy out of this, but we will get blue tongue or something like it.
It will affect our trade, it may well kill all meat exports for a generation, maybe even forever, we sell on our clean record.
Just today I heard about a lady from another country ,returning to her home here, telling her neighbors to watch out for small black cock Roach's.
They came back with her, she found them in her packing and says, wait for it, you just can never get rid of them once you have them!
Pork is about to be marked ,to say it is Australian grown, much better but dearer see most has been imported for a long while.

I believe our dreaded blue tongue or such will not come via imported meat.
It may come via imported animals, remember cost savings bought equine flue here, that and people not doing their jobs.
However the odds very much are it will come via northern borders of the NT, QLD;d, or WA
It could come through customs, that show I mentioned frightens me.
Once it comes and it will we will be devastated farmer , the few blindly complain now, will beg for forgiveness and a return to exporting.
Lets keep our cool, think it through.
If I had my way, after this country's meat exports hits this brick wall, I would make that the time to get rid of badly bread cattle in this country upgrade the quality and productivity of our herd.
Love a good house cow but here and in many more places people are breeding Jersey and Guernsey with beef bulls and worse just because sale yards sell calves like that cheap weekend warriors buy and continue to breed.
If you are about yabby ,its true city farmer wanted a splayed Bull to put over his 18 splayed heifers here.

Correct JohnDG you know our Aussie economics. The US and China doing extremely well out of our FTAs from the 'outset' to date. They wont be getting their hands on some graziers finest micron wool though. Should originally been termed 'The Non-Fair Trade Agreement'; each one bathed in false promises.