U.S. Cattlemen’s Association To Appear Before U.S. International Trade Commission

USCA (March 1, 2010) - The U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) will appear before the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) on March 2, 2010. The USITC will be holding a public hearing regarding the Proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement: Advice on Probable Economic Effect of Providing Duty-Free Treatment for Imports. The hearing is in response to the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) investigation into the probable economic effect of a potential U.S. free trade agreement with Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam - the seven countries that the United States will engage to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement.

Leo McDonnell, USCA Director Emeritus, Columbus, MT, made the following comments:

"This hearing provides an excellent opportunity for cattle producers to be represented at the early stages of a critical trade investigation. It’s no secret that cattle producers could stand to lose a great deal at the negotiating table if the U.S. advances this investigation and reaches a trade agreement that fails to correct prior Free Trade Agreements (FTA) that have had damaging impacts on the U.S. cattle industry. The competitiveness and strength of the U.S. cattle industry is jeopardized when the U.S. enters into a trade agreement with a major beef producing country that liberalizes animal health standards and tariff quotas, and fails to recognize the supply sensitivity of our markets.

"This is an important opportunity to highlight the need to address the global beef trade distortions that currently exist. Billions of dollars are currently being lost due to sanitary and phytosanitary barriers, including beef export trade restrictions, based on unfounded bovine spongiform encepahlopathy (BSE) concerns. Furthermore, U.S. cattle producers are undercut by competing beef producing countries’ trade distorting practices, and the fact that U.S. beef exports are assessed high tariffs. This in addition to the fact that U.S. tariffs on imported beef are some of the lowest rates in the world casts a dark shadow that inhibits the U.S. cattle industry from reaching its full competitive and prosperous state.

"There is good news in the fact that there is now more focus on improving the trade policy and negotiations that address these global distortions in agriculture. USCA believes the first step to enhancing U.S. beef trade policy is that before allowing beef producing countries additional access to the U.S. market, the U.S. must first achieve pre-2003 BSE beef export levels.

"Additionally, if U.S. trade officials enter into negotiations with a beef producing country then automatic, price sensitive ‘snap back’ safeguards need to be written into the FTA. These safeguards prevent the domestic price distortion that occurs with surging beef imports. The Australian Free Trade Agreement was the first FTA that contained a type of safeguard. Unfortunately, it is discretionary, leaving little promise that it will be used and if used, it will probably be too late. If we can build and improve upon the current trade models then we can make such agreements opportunistic for U.S. ranchers, instead of continuing to subject to some of the damaging policies we have seen in the past. It is important that the U.S. market not find itself locked open, while many countries in the rest of the world are closed or limited in access. It will also be important that such trade agreements have the proper risk management tools to insure such agreements cannot be destructive to our industry.

"It’s critical, however, that cattle producers play a constructive role in these trade talks. Obviously, any free trade agreement that does not implement competitive trade policies cannot and will not be supported by cattle producers. However, expert research, factual information, and attainable objectives provided during trade talks will enhance the chances for a successful outcome.

"USCA’s Executive Vice President, Jess Peterson, a fifth generation rancher and Montana native will represent USCA at this hearing. I am pleased because Peterson has spent the last five years working with Congress and the Administration and will fully describe the positive outcome that can be achieved by implementing a competitive and enhanced U.S. trade policy for the cattle industry."

Established in March 2007, USCA is committed to concentrating its efforts in Washington, DC to enhance and expand the cattle industry’s voice on Capitol Hill. USCA has a full-time presence in Washington, giving cattle producers across the country a strong influence on policy development. For more information go to www.uscattlemen.org.