Heading into 2018, the word that best describes the trade environment US red meat exporters face is uncertainty. Access to international markets is absolutely essential to the US beef, pork, and lamb industries, and free trade agreements have helped expand exports to Asia-Pacific and Western Hemisphere markets. With agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement under review, it is important for US industries that have found success under these agreements to have opportunities for further growth. It is also concerning that in Japan — the largest value destination for US beef and pork — our competitors are poised to make access gains while a US-Japan trade agreement seems to be nowhere on the horizon.
On a more positive note, red meat exporters are very pleased with recent progress in the area of transportation, especially with regard to the West Coast ports. Having been negatively impacted by the major port slowdown of 2014-2015, an extended period of labor peace is a welcome development. We are hoping for similar progress on the East and Gulf coasts in 2018.
The US meat industry is in a period of expansion, and this growth has been driven in part by returns delivered by the international marketplace. Getting each and every cut of US beef, pork and lamb to the market that values it most enhances the profitability of everyone in the supply chain. Our objective in 2018 is to continue building and maintaining the US meat industry’s critical international customer base and further solidifying the reputation of the US as a reliable supplier of safe, high-quality red meat products.