USMEF has submitted comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in preparation for the USTR's National Trade Estimate, an annual report detailing foreign trade barriers faced by U.S. exporters.

USMEF's comments, which are available online, identify many obstacles that negatively impact red meat exports and/or increase costs for the U.S. industry, including:

- China's various market access barriers, including COVID-19 related measures and the 25% retaliatory duty on U.S. pork, imposed in response to Section 232 tariffs
- Japan's annual safeguard for U.S. beef, which the USMEF expects to be triggered early next year
- Barriers that greatly limit U.S. red meat access in the European Union, including high tariffs, restrictive quotas and sanitary measures
- Unwarranted restrictions on production and processing technologies
- Bovine spongiform encephalopathy-related market access restrictions for U.S. beef
- Establishment of registration lists and questionnaires
- Continued lack of access to certain markets for U.S. lamb

The comments also recap the significant market access gains made in the past year in key markets such as Japan and China, and discuss the potential benefits of current trade agreement negotiations with the United Kingdom and Kenya.

USTR will submit the National Trade Estimate to Congress on or about April 1. The most recent edition of the report is available online, along with this agricultural fact sheet.

Exporters with questions may contact Erin Borror or the USMEF Export Services staff.

Source: U.S. Meat Export Federation, which is solely responsible for the information provided, and wholly owns the information. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.