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Free Trade Agreements

Free trade agreements play a major role in international red meat exports. See tabs below for USMEF summaries and analysis on the impact of U.S. trade agreements for U.S. red meat exports. 

Beef

The FTA means:

  • Duty-free access for high quality beef (Choice & Prime) with unlimited volumes, duty-free tariff rate quota for standard beef and separately beef offal, with annual increase in TRQ volumes.

  • Duties of 80 percent are phased to zero by 2021, over a 10-year period.

Pork

The FTA means:

  • In the duty phase-out period, elimination of the price band system except in cases where the applied duty is less than the rate in the U.S.-Colombia FTA (for example, the applied duty in 2001 was zero due partially to high U.S. pork prices).

  • Duties of 30 percent were reduced to zero by 2016.

  • Some frozen offal as well as high-fat trimmings, belly fat and bacon fat have immediate duty-free access.

  • Variety meat exports under chapter 5 (including frozen intestines) benefit from a duty-free TRQ, starting at 4,642 metric tons in 2012 and increasing to unlimited volumes in 2021.

As a main competitor to the United States, Chile has benefited from a trade agreement with Colombia, with duty-free access for its pork exports to Colombia:

  • In 2009, Chile moved ahead of the U.S. as the top supplier of pork and pork variety meat to Colombia, followed by the U.S. and Canada.

  • In 2011 the U.S. regained its leading position as the top pork supplier to Colombia.

  • Canada also has an FTA with Colombia, implemented Aug. 15, 2011. Canada has a TRQ of 5,750 MT for 2016 with in-quota imports facing a zero percent duty.