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NCBA on EU/Japan deal: US has to be aggressive

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is disappointed but its trade director Kent Bacus tells Brownfield they are not surprised that the EU has agreed to a trade deal with Japan, “We’re disappointed to hear that Japan is essentially going to give the European beef producers very similar terms to what we would have had under the Trans Pacific Partnership.”

Bacus says NCBA knew trade deals would be struck with Japan, without the U.S., once President Trump pulled this country out of the T-P-P deal.

He says the U.S. can’t sit back and watch its competitors strike up better deals with its leading export market, Japan, “We really depend on exports now more than ever with these volatile cattle prices. Exports accounted for roughly $350-dollars per head last year. And, about 1 in 6 of those dollars are from sales into Japan so we can’t afford to jeopardize that access.”

Bacus tells Brownfield the U.S. has to be aggressive and pursue bilateral terms with Japan to keep the U.S. beef industry competitive there. Bacus says recent export gains will be short-lived once the Australian herd recovers from drought conditions and the European trade agreement goes into effect.