The United States announced in late December that it intends to take action against the EU because of trade discrimination against US beef, according to AHDB consultant Lionel Colby.
If retaliation does take place, this could well be in the form of additional import duties on EU agricultural products.
In the case of the meat sector, the EU exports significant quantities of pig meat to the US (but not beef).
In addition, pork volumes are growing and the US represents a market for EU high-valued cuts.
Beef quota
The background to this issue is that the EU established an autonomous beef quota in August 2009, in resolution of the hormones dispute between the EU and the United States.
This quota allowed for the importation of 20,000 tonnes per annum, subsequently expanded to 48,200 tonnes from August 2012.
The beef has to be sourced from steers and heifers that had been fed a hormone-free diet using concentrates and/or feed grains.
The product specifications were designed specifically for the US beef industry but other countries have subsequently been able to satisfy them. This especially applies to Australia, Uruguay and Argentina. The US share of imports has declined as a result and hence given rise to the current US concerns.
Dispute of 1999
There was a similar dispute in 1999 when the US announced in July of that year that a number of EU products, including pig meat, would be subject to 100% ad valorem import duty.
This again was related to the use of growth hormones in cattle production in the US as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruled that the EU ban on beef produced with hormones was inconsistent with WTO rules.
However, what was significant about this was that the UK was excluded, as it had always been opposed to the imposition of the hormone ban.
Whether the United States again takes retaliatory action and if that action applies to all EU countries will become clearer in the coming weeks with a post consultation hearing scheduled for mid-February.
The policy of the new Trump administration on this issue is at present unknown.
However, it is already indicating that it will be taking a more hard-line in respect to international trade agreements.
This could represent a threat to the small but growing UK pork trade. It might also mean that other EU exporters to the US would divert high quality pork to other markets inside and outside of the EU.
