Overview
- The U.S. Trade Representative’s annual report names Australia’s new streaming local‑content quotas and its Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme as significant trade barriers.
- The report criticises the quotas that require major streaming services to spend a set share on Australian shows and says a narrow definition of local content could skew where companies invest.
- The new section on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, which sets subsidised prices for medicines, says Australia undervalues new drugs and that risk‑share caps and clawbacks shift costs to manufacturers.
- The report says the U.S. is also watching Australia’s social media age limits and the News Media Bargaining Code to ensure American tech firms are not singled out.
- The document raises concerns about biosecurity rules affecting pork, poultry, apples, pears, and other meat imports, while Australia says it is in talks with Washington and will protect the PBS and local content even as such listings can justify tariff pressure.