News

A strong August for pork exports

August was a very good month for pork exports.  US Meat Export Federation economist Erin Borror says while much of that was largely due to increased shipments to China – that isn’t the only story.  “August numbers were still higher than last year for South Korea, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and Central America,” she says.  “The growth in China has been impressive but what’s also really encouraging is that it has not yet come at the expense of these other markets.” She says pork exports to Mexico have continued to rebound following the removal of the retaliatory duties.

While pork exports surged in August, beef exports slowed – dropping 4 percent in volume and 8 percent in value from August 2018.  “There was a big drop year-over-year to Japan and somewhat of a slowdown to Korea,” she says.  “We have great optimism for the Japanese market for US beef across a whole range of cuts once the new trade agreement is implemented.” January to August beef exports fell slightly below last year’s record pace with a 2 percent decline in volume and 1 percent decline in value.

Japan currently imposes a 38.5 percent tariff on US beef, compared to 26.6 percent on beef from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Mexico.  But, now that the US-Japan trade agreement has been signed, the tariff gap will close and put the US on a more level playing field with its competitors.