Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 2/21/20

The U.S. could annually sell $4 billion worth of beef to China within the next five years, as a result of the phase one deal and China's meat protein shortage caused by African swine fever, said Kent Baucus, senior director of international affairs at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

"We haven't scratched the surface on the Chinese market," Baucus told our colleagues at Morning Trade, referring to U.S. beef exports to China of just $86 million in 2019. "There is a tremendous unmet protein demand in China. And while China is culturally and historically more attracted to pork products, they may actually be the largest beef importer in the world now."

Still, for U.S. exports to explode, China must meet some "pretty significant" deadlines over the next month, he said. Those include setting maximum residue levels for three synthetic hormones used in U.S. beef production and removing trade restrictions imposed after mad cow disease was found in a dairy cow in Washington state in 2003.