Importance of Key Trade Markets for U.S. Beef

U.S. Meat Export Federation President and CEO Philip Seng shares that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks have been ongoing for some time, but took on a heightened level of importance for the U.S. meat industry when Japan officially joined the negotiations on July 25. Seng shares the importance of these trade negotiations and the opportunities they hold for the U.S. meat industry.  
Seng: “The Trans-Pacific Partnership obviously with Japan in the TPP the economies of the US and Japan account for 80 percent of those 12 countries in that. So the Japan opportunity looms very large. We had a 38 and half percent duty going into Japan so whatever we can do to see those tariffs come down will be an impetus. This year we are up 60 percent in exports to Japan. On February first the Japanese went ahead from 20 months to 30 months so the velocity of our products going in there has been at a very very fast pace. We are really gaining back our market share in that market so we see a lot of possibilities through TPP through lower tariffication in the Japanese market.”
Although the EU is a relatively small market for U.S. meat at this time, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks represent a venue in which several trade barriers that have limited opportunities for U.S. exports can be addressed. The U.S. and EU also recently announced a two-year extension of the agreement that has allowed some U.S. beef from non-hormone-treated cattle to enter Europe under a duty-free quota.