NCBA: Trade Deal With China a "Game Changer" for American Beef Producers

Date: 1/15/2020

Title: NCBA: Trade Deal With China a 'Game Changer' for American Beef Producers

WASHINGTON (Jan. 15, 2020) - The National Cattlemen's Beef Association today applauded the signing of a Phase-One trade agreement with China, saying this agreement will lay the groundwork for American-produced beef to be highly competitive in the world's most populous market.

'The Phase-One Agreement with China will be a game changer for the U.S. beef industry,' said NCBA President Jennifer Houston, who joined President Trump at the White House for today's event. 'For many years, Chinese consumers have been denied access to high-quality U.S. beef-the same U.S. beef we feed to our families. The removal of these massive trade barriers gives Chinese consumers access to the U.S. beef they desire, and it gives America's cattlemen and cattlewomen the opportunity to provide U.S. beef to a growing consumer-base that represents one-fifth of the global population and a middle-class that is greater than the entire U.S. population.

'We cannot begin to express our thanks to President Trump for fighting for America's cattle producers,' Houston continued. 'Restoring U.S. beef access to China was the top agenda item resulting from the Mar-a-Lago summit in 2017, and our negotiators have never stopped working to reopen the Chinese market for U.S. beef. The Trump Administration did not allow the odds to dictate the outcome, and because of their hard work and dedication, America's cattle producers and Chinese consumers will have a stronger relationship that will benefit both countries for generations. Today is a great day for the U.S. beef industry and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.'

When American-produced beef was banned from China for 14 years, NCBA worked with the U.S. government for more than a decade to reopen access to the market of nearly 1.4 billion consumers. American producers scored an initial victory in June 2017, when the Chinese market was reopened for the first time since 2003. NCBA joined U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and American Ambassador to China Terry Branstad in Beijing to celebrate and mark the official reopening of the Chinese market.

However, many non-science-based, non-tariff trade barriers remained in place, which limited the amount of American-produced beef that qualified for China. NCBA says that this Phase-One Agreement will begin knocking down those trade barriers and significantly improve access to what is potentially a top export market for U.S. beef producers.
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