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Opportunities for US beef in Europe

A livestock economist says the European Commission’s announcement to review the duty-free quota for high-quality beef is good news for US beef producers.

Erin Borror with the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) says the current quota is 11,250 metric tons each quarter and it lacks the capacity needed to meet Europe’s demand for US beef.  “Depending on what agreement is reached, we foresee demand in Europe being strong enough to double that value from $200-million to $400-million,” she says.  “We need to implement a fix because our business needs to not only survive, but needs to grow.”

Borror says the current quota is fully utilized within the first few weeks of opening and US beef can only enter the EU at zero duty during the first few days of each quota.

The Commission suggested that part of the existing 45,000 metric ton quota, that is available to exporters from other countries, be allocated to the US.

Borror says the announcement is a good start, but it is only the first of several steps that are needed to reach an agreement on how the quota will be administered in the future.