Mike
Well-known member
Read this real close and tell us who profits from those cheap beef imports:
Export value apparent to entire beef industry
The U.S. beef industry has a clear advantage over our international competitors in its ability to deliver large quantities of individual beef cuts prepared to customer specifications.
That advantage is reflected in the fact that in 2003 we exported more than 1.27 million metric tons of beef, worth more than $3.8 billion.
For those of us used to thinking in pounds of meat or head of cattle, exports in 2003 amounted to about 2.8 billion pounds, or about 4.8 million head of cattle.
It goes beyond that, though. About a third of the high quality beef we have exported is in the form of variety meat—products ranging from tongues, livers, stomachs and intestine, to feet and ox-tails. These are products that have much lower value in the U.S. market.
In the United States, some products, such as short plate or short ribs, would be ground for hamburger at about a fourth of their value in international trade. Other items, such as intestine or tripe, would be rendered for pet food. As a result, these products are often worth only pennies a pound in the United States, but may be worth several dollars internationally.
U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) analysts found the annualized loss for the 10 top products sold internationally as a result of widespread bans on U.S. beef—on items such as short plate, short rib, intestine, liver and tripe—was more than $2.6 billion, or more than $100 per head. This loss eventually impacts the entire industry, right down to cow-calf operations.
Strong U.S. demand during this time helped support U.S. prices so far, but we understand that is now changing and we will be steadily producing more beef. Since U.S. consumers generally won't be lining up to get great deals on tripe or intestine, losses on these products will eventually impact the entire system.
Some would argue that we should produce just what we need and not be subject to international market terms and conditions.
While it may appear to have some advantages, that approach also locks you into a market where population and income growth is slow and stable. It bars you from establishing customers in parts of the world where populations are growing and incomes and demand for high quality protein are on a long-term increase.
Clearly, that's not a good option for an industry that wants a future.
In addition, even though we import beef into the United States, we export beef at a higher value.
For example, in 2003 (our last full year of exports) we imported beef for an average price of $2.64 per pound and exported beef for an average price of $3.10, thus effectively earning 46 cents on every pound we imported. Obviously, we weren't buying and selling the same products. We bought frozen trimmings from Australia and sold cut-to-specification short ribs to Japan and Korea.
Without this trade, the meat from the short ribs would go into our hamburger at a much lower value.
Seng is president and CEO of the U.S. Meat Export Federation.
Export value apparent to entire beef industry
The U.S. beef industry has a clear advantage over our international competitors in its ability to deliver large quantities of individual beef cuts prepared to customer specifications.
That advantage is reflected in the fact that in 2003 we exported more than 1.27 million metric tons of beef, worth more than $3.8 billion.
For those of us used to thinking in pounds of meat or head of cattle, exports in 2003 amounted to about 2.8 billion pounds, or about 4.8 million head of cattle.
It goes beyond that, though. About a third of the high quality beef we have exported is in the form of variety meat—products ranging from tongues, livers, stomachs and intestine, to feet and ox-tails. These are products that have much lower value in the U.S. market.
In the United States, some products, such as short plate or short ribs, would be ground for hamburger at about a fourth of their value in international trade. Other items, such as intestine or tripe, would be rendered for pet food. As a result, these products are often worth only pennies a pound in the United States, but may be worth several dollars internationally.
U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) analysts found the annualized loss for the 10 top products sold internationally as a result of widespread bans on U.S. beef—on items such as short plate, short rib, intestine, liver and tripe—was more than $2.6 billion, or more than $100 per head. This loss eventually impacts the entire industry, right down to cow-calf operations.
Strong U.S. demand during this time helped support U.S. prices so far, but we understand that is now changing and we will be steadily producing more beef. Since U.S. consumers generally won't be lining up to get great deals on tripe or intestine, losses on these products will eventually impact the entire system.
Some would argue that we should produce just what we need and not be subject to international market terms and conditions.
While it may appear to have some advantages, that approach also locks you into a market where population and income growth is slow and stable. It bars you from establishing customers in parts of the world where populations are growing and incomes and demand for high quality protein are on a long-term increase.
Clearly, that's not a good option for an industry that wants a future.
In addition, even though we import beef into the United States, we export beef at a higher value.
For example, in 2003 (our last full year of exports) we imported beef for an average price of $2.64 per pound and exported beef for an average price of $3.10, thus effectively earning 46 cents on every pound we imported. Obviously, we weren't buying and selling the same products. We bought frozen trimmings from Australia and sold cut-to-specification short ribs to Japan and Korea.
Without this trade, the meat from the short ribs would go into our hamburger at a much lower value.
Seng is president and CEO of the U.S. Meat Export Federation.
