Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 10/12/16


Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump don’t agree on much; but one thing they do agree on could have negative consequences for the U.S. beef, pork and poultry industries. The meat industry has been championing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) since negotiations began eight years ago. With the U.S. presidential election right around the corner and both candidates bashing the pact, its prospects for final congressional passage have never been grimmer.

The timing is bad. With the U.S. population growing at less than 1 percent per year, animal protein industry growth depends largely on more meat and poultry boarding boats to foreign consumers in faster growing markets. In the first half of this year, the United States exported about 25 percent of the pork produced, over 16 percent of the chicken and about 13 percent of the beef, according to industry association calculations.  

Without the trade barrier concessions built into the TPP, both beef and pork could lose out to competing exporters in key markets like Japan while poultry exporters were looking for Canadian concessions built into the pact to increase access to that market.

“It looks somewhat doubtful Congress will take up the implementing legislation for TPP this session,” USA Poultry and Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) President Jim Sumner told Meatingplace. “If congressional leadership does not bring TPP up for a vote this year, with a new administration coming in, it looks like it won’t happen for a long, long time.”

The fallback position for the meat industry is to push for bilateral trade agreements, which is what the Obama administration has been doing along side its efforts to win TPP approval.  Just since January, the White House has announced animal protein trade victories in South Africa, Peru, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Brazil.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.