TRADE NEGOTIATING AUTHORITY NEEDED TO OPEN BEEF MARKETS

WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 22, 1997 -- U.S. beef producers will be left behind in the global marketplace unless the United States has the trade negotiating authority to open more international beef markets, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association said at a press conference here today.

   "The United States needs fast-track authority to negotiate trade agreements; not only to reach new agreements, but to fix provisions that are not working in current trade agreements," said Dana Hauck, a cattle producer from Delphos, Kansas at a press conference held by the AG for Fast-Track Coalition. The Coalition, made up of more than 62 agriculture producer and processing groups including NCBA, also met with Administration officials and members of Congress to lobby for fast-track authority. More than 60 producers and agribusinessmen came to Washington, D.C. to take part.

   Trade negotiating authority, which has been held by every president since 1974, would allow the administration to negotiate trade agreements in good faith by requiring Congress to vote them up or down rather than amending them.

   "The cost of inaction is great. While the U.S. has sat on the sidelines due to lack of negotiating authority, Canada has negotiated trade agreements with Chile and China; the European Union has been very aggressive in developing trade agreements in Latin America; and other competitors, including Australia and New Zealand, have gained special trading concessions," Hauck said. "If the United States doesn't act now, it will be left behind."

   The U.S. beef industry has become increasingly reliant on export markets. During 1986, prior to the negotiated opening of many international beef markets, the United States imported four times more beef than it exported and the U.S. trade deficit for beef totaled 1.6 billion pounds.

   Ten years later, in 1996, U.S. beef imports were relatively the same on a tonnage basis as in 1986. However, beef exports had grown by 360 percent and during 1996 were nearly equal to imports on a tonnage basis. The U.S. trade surplus for beef and beef variety meats during 1996 totaled $1.27 billion in value. When live cattle, hides and tallow are included, the 1996 U.S. beef industry trade surplus totaled $1.81 billion.

   "As tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers are eliminated in other countries, the U.S. beef industry will benefit," Hauck said. "Without approval of fast-track negotiating authority, reducing barriers in existing markets and gaining access to new markets will not be possible because other countries won't be able to rely on the negotiating process."

   Ross Wilson from Amarillo, Texas, was in Washington, D.C. representing the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.

   "Texas cattle feeders have been a primary beneficiary of expanded international markets," Wilson said. "International trade not only helps sell more beef, but it directly adds to the dollars that producers receive for their cattle."

   Initiated in 1898, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association is the marketing organization and trade association for America's one million cattle farmers and ranchers. With offices in Denver, Chicago and Washington, D.C., NCBA is a consumer-focused, producer-directed organization representing the largest segment of the nation's food and fiber industry.