A few thoughts by John Nalivka: U.S. beef trade

U.S. trade has become a hot topic since President-elect Trump announced he would put tariffs on imported products from Mexico and Canada. Earlier he indicated he would place tariffs on Chinese products coming into the U.S. to level the playing field between the U.S. and China. This is a topic that immediately leads to analysis or speculation about the impact of tariffs, particularly since many, if not most of us are “free trade” thinkers and do not like tariffs. Beyond that, we are involved with an industry that realizes a substantial economic benefit from trade of which the meat industry is one – both exports and imports when viewed from the entire supply chain – producers and end users. From January through September, the U.S. exported 2.25 billion pounds of beef and while this figure is down 3 percent from a year earlier, the value of those exports including fresh, frozen, and chilled beef together with variety meats totaled $7.8 billion, a five percent increase over the prior ...