New EU – US deal to sell more American beef to Europe
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U.S. President Donald Trump announced a deal on Friday to sell more American beef to Europe.
The European Commission has stressed that any beef deal will not increase overall beef imports and that all the beef coming in would be hormone-free, in line with EU food safety rules. The deal needs European Parliament approval.
The agreement was then signed by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Stavros Lambrinidis, the European Union’s ambassador to the United States and EU representative Jani Raappana.
The beef deal could help alleviate some of the damage to the domestic agricultural industry because of tariffs Beijing has imposed on U.S products in retaliation for U.S. levies on China.
Trump said in the first year duty-free U.S. beef exports to the EU will increase by 46% and over seven years will rise 90% further. “In total the duty-free exports will rise from $150 million to $420 million, an increase of over 180%,” he said.
EU sources and diplomats in June said a deal had been reached to allow the United States a guaranteed share of a 45,000 tonne European Union quota.
There are 17 U.S. slaughterhouses approved to export beef to Europe, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture records.
Opportunities for U.S. meat producers to export beef to the EU under the quota have been inconsistent as other suppliers such as Australia, Uruguay and Argentina have been approved to ship under the quota. The U.S. beef industry believes spotty access to the market is a reason why more American farmers do not raise their cattle without hormones, which speed up growth. The EU bans beef from cattle treated with synthetic growth hormones.
