U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer offered new details on the progress made in the recent U.S.-China trade talks, which were held in conjunction with the summit meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. In a statement, Greer confirmed that the two sides have agreed to separate trade of some non-sensitive goods under the recently established U.S.-China Board of Trade. Dan Halstrom, the president and CEO of the U.S. Meat Export Federation, is encouraged that both U.S. pork and beef – including variety meats – are on the list of products to be considered for more favorable treatment.
“There are a couple of things that stand out. Number one, I think we’re especially encouraged that the two sides are really looking to separate trade between non-sensitive goods under the recently established U.S.-China Board of Trade. I think, in particular, U.S. beef and pork would be included, as well as variety meats, on this list of products to be considered for more favorable treatment from a duty standpoint. This also provides a path forward where we can maybe separate agriculture, and specifically U.S. beef and pork, from some of these other overlying high-level issues, whether they be Taiwan or anything else, for that matter. The reality is that our issues are mainly scientific trade issues that have to be worked out. The devil’s in the details, and I think this does provide us a path forward to get some clarification around some of the testing requirements that are required for U.S. beef and pork, for example.”
Both U.S. beef and pork face retaliatory duties in China, and there are a number of non-tariff barriers, including the suspension of several U.S. beef processing and cold storage facilities that account for about half of U.S. fed beef capacity. There are also onerous and inconsistent inspection requirements.
“I think the tariff issue is always front and center, right? We are struggling at the moment with high retaliatory tariffs, and the discussions last week could very well lead to some relief on the tariff side. Currently, our largest export market for pork variety meats is China, and we still have a 47 percent duty on U.S. variety meats going into China. So, number one, it’s important that we don’t have it go any higher, and number two, that we get it down to the more reasonable level we were at prior to when all this started. So, I think whether it’s variety meats or muscle cuts, for that matter, the path forward would have some opportunity here for some relief on the tariff side, which would really help, especially, as I mentioned, on variety meats. Cautiously optimistic is probably the tone, but there is a path forward.”
A technical agricultural working group under the U.S.-China Board of Trade is slated to meet before the end of the year. Halstrom says he is appreciative of the continued focus USTR has maintained on U.S. red meat access issues.