RCALF Says Beef Is a Perishable and Cyclical Product (05/01/06 07:15)
High Plains / Midwest Ag Journal
May 1, 2006
OMAHA (DTN) -- The country's two major trade groups for cattle producers are divided on what they see as critical issues for the beef industry in any World Trade Organization agreement for agriculture.
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association wants to ensure markets are open to U.S. beef by making sure other countries don't label beef as a "sensitive product." Once a country labels a product as sensitive, it can keep higher tariff rates on imports. Two major potential markets the U.S. is trying to reopen -- Japan and South Korea -- both could protect their domestic industries from imports by designating beef as a sensitive product, said Gregg Doud, chief economist for the NCBA.
"It is a very, very big issue," he said. "It is the issue for us."
Reducing tariffs across the board in agriculture and limiting the number of sensitive products to just a few items is one of the top goals listed in a U.S. Trade Representative's proposal released last week.
Leaders of the Ranchers-Cattlemen's Action Legal Fund are upset the latest World Trade Organization statement on agriculture doesn't include beef as a "perishable and cyclical" product that can be hurt by too many imports.
The U.S. exported about 78.1 million pounds of beef in February though major markets such as Japan and South Korea remain closed. The U.S. also imported about 158 million pounds of beef in February. A WTO agreement is expected to help reduce barriers to trade because U.S. tariffs, on average, are much lower than other countries.
The perishable and cyclical designation, which R-CALF has advocated since WTO talks started, could offer protection to producers who may have cattle ready to market when a glut of beef or cattle from outside the country causes prices to drop, Bullard said. Representatives from the U.S. Trade Representative's office and USDA, speaking on background, said the U.S. proposal for the WTO calls for designating some fruits and vegetables as "seasonable and perishable" with no "cyclical" designation in the proposal. The seasonal and perishable designation would help isolate the economic effects of trade during peak harvest seasons for those fruits or vegetables. Exactly how that would occur and specific provisions for protective measures have not been defined.