EU Announces Deal to Allow Increased US Beef Exports
U.S. and European Union negotiators have reached a deal to increase U.S. exports of beef to the EU, the European Commission said in a June 13 press release. Under the agreement in principle, the EU will allocate 35,000 tons of its beef tariff-rate quota to U.S. exporters, with the remainder of the TRQ allocated to all other exporting countries. The increase will be phased in over a seven-year period, the release said.
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“With this step, the European Union reaffirms its commitment to bring about a new phase in the relationship with the United States, in line with the agreement reached between Presidents [Jean-Claude] Juncker and [Donald] Trump in July 2018,” EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan said. “I also want to reiterate that the agreement will not change the overall volume, quality or safety of the beef imported into the EU, which will remain in compliance with the high European standards." The EU only imports hormone-free beef.
The deal, which must still be approved by the EU Parliament, addresses complaints from U.S. exporters over a lack of access following a 2014 World Trade Organization decision that found the EU had to open its quota to non-U.S. beef. U.S. market share has since fallen to about 30 percent, according to a report from Reuters.
The EU had to secure agreement from the third countries that had benefited from a higher share of the TRQ, including Australia and Uruguay, to secure the deal with the U.S., Reuters said. Increased quantities of beef exports to the EU are key issues in ongoing EU free trade deal negotiations with Australia and the South American trade bloc Mercosur, the report said.