Source: Rita Jane Gabbett,MEATINGPLACE, 2/13/17


USDA reported last week that chicken available for domestic consumption fell by 7 percent, year over year, in December. The reason? Chicken export volumes were up 28 percent from the year earlier.

Similarly, while supplies of pork for domestic consumption were up less than 1 percent in December, export volumes were up 15 percent, according to the Daily Livestock Report, published by Steiner Consulting Group.

Not to be outdone on the export front, beef exports were up 24 percent in December, even as beef for domestic consumption expanded by 6 percent.

Leaning in
The numbers reinforce the importance of export markets to the U.S. poultry, pork and beef industries, which is why the new administration’s trade policies are being watched closely.

Last week, the National Pork Producers Council and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association wrote to President Donald Trump asking for bilateral trade negotiations with Japan in the wake of the new administration’s decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

“[W]e urge you to initiate free trade agreement negotiations with nations in the Asia-Pacific region beginning with Japan,” noting Japan is the highest value international market for both beef and pork exports. In fiscal 2016, Japanese consumers purchased $1.4 billion of U.S. beef products and $1.5 billion of U.S. pork products.

NAFTA
Closer to home, preparations for the process of re-negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement are already beginning.

On Feb. 3, the Mexican government began a 90-day consultation with businesses on what its negotiating position should be.
President Trump has announced that, once confirmed, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross would lead the American negotiators. Ross has said NAFTA is “logically the first thing for us to deal with.”

The beef with Europe
The Trump administration also inherits a long-running battle between the United States and Europe over barriers to U.S. beef exports.

In December, the Obama administration scheduled a hearing on imposing more than $100 million in tariffs on European Union products in retaliation for violation of the duty-free beef quota established to compensate the U.S. for losses arising from the EU’s ban on the use of hormones in beef production.

That hearing is set to proceed next Wednesday and comes amid stalled talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the previous platform for beef discussions, which many assume the Trump Administration will not resume, given its stated preference for bilateral deals.

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