European Union Beef Deficit Warrants Another Look

Draw a new target on the European Union with U.S. beef exports the bull’s-eye.  While U.S. exports there languish under the yoke of an illegal trade ban due to hormones, there are signs that the European Union is also tiring of the annual $116 million in retaliation tariffs sanctioned by the World Trade Organization.

Jamie Willret, head of the Joint International Markets Committee, says that recent conversations with the European Union have signaled a willingness to receive U.S. beef, although still hormone free.  Phil Seng, chief executive officer for the U.S. Meat Export Federation, told Summer Conference attendees that the European Union is the fastest growing import market in the world, and that South America, primarily Brazil, commands the European import market.

Seng explained that in the 1980s the European market was self sufficient in terms of beef production, a scenario that now has changed.  He said that some U.S. products are 200 to 300 percent less expensive than the same cut of beef from the European Union.

Seng and NCBA Chief Economist Gregg Doud cautioned that there is a lot of work to be done to reopen the European market, issues beyond hormone use.  Among those is getting a separate trade quota for the United States.  Currently the U.S. quota is bundled with Canada’s.  Also, work that needs to be done regarding some of the processes used in the U.S. Hazard Analysis, Critical Control Point plans, which may use substances the European Union doesn’t approve.