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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) and duties of 30 percent are phased to zero by 2026, over a 15-year period, for all other muscle cuts.

  • Beef variety meat: duties of 15 percent fell to zero immediately for some items, others were phased to zero by 2016.

Pork

The FTA means:

  • Duties of 60 percent to 70 percent on most cuts eliminated through duty-free TRQ, starting at 1,600 metric tons.

  • Duties of 15 percent on bacon, cured hams and pig fat eliminated through duty-free TRQ starting at 636 metric tons.

  • Duties of 30% and 15% on prepared/preserved items eliminated through duty-free TRQ starting at 318 metric tons

  • Each TRQ volume increases annually until reaching unlimited duty-free volumes by year 15, which is 2026

The Canada-Panama FTA was implemented in April 2013, with similar terms to the U.S. agreement