Agreement to Improve Access for U.S. Beef in European Union Signed at White House

On Aug. 2 at the White House, an agreement was signed granting the United States a country-specific share of the European Union’s duty-free high-quality beef quota. More details are in this news release from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).

USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom participated in the White House ceremony and his remarks are included in the attached audio report. Following the ceremony, Halstrom discussed the importance of the new agreement to the U.S. beef industry and to European customers who import U.S. beef. He also praised USTR for its diligent efforts to complete the agreement, which still requires European Parliament consent before it can be implemented. This step is expected to begin in September.

The full White House ceremony can be viewed on online.

Photo for use with this release: Dan Halstrom speaks at White House

Photo caption: At a White House ceremony with President Trump, USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom thanks the Trump administration for securing improved access for U.S. beef in the European Union. Also pictured are U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer (far left) and Sen. John Hoeven (R-North Dakota).

On Aug. 2 at the White House, an agreement was signed granting the United States a country-specific share of the European Union’s duty-free high-quality beef quota. More details are in this news release from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom participated in the White House ceremony and his remarks are included in the attached audio report. Following the ceremony, Halstrom discussed the importance of the new agreement to the U.S. beef industry and to European customers who import U.S. beef. He also praised USTR for its diligent efforts to complete the agreement, which still requires European Parliament consent before it can be implemented. This step is expected to begin in September. Photo caption: At a ceremony with President Trump access for U.S. beef in the European Union U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer (far left) and Sen. John Hoeven (R-North Dakota). # # #

Transcript

Joe Schuele: For this U.S. Meat Export Federation report, we go to the White House where USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom thanked the Trump administration for securing an agreement that provides more reliable and consistent access for U.S. beef in the European Union:

Dan Halstrom: Thank-you, Mr. President, I'm Dan Halstrom, president and CEO of the U.S. Meat Export Federation, and, on behalf of all of our members and agriculture throughout the United States and our beef producers especially, we'd like to say, Thank-you! This is an honor and a great day for us with our European Union friends for extended access and we really do appreciate everything the president and the administration is doing on behalf of the farmers of America. So, thank-you!

Joe Schuele: Following the White House ceremony, Halstrom spoke about the benefits of the new agreement for the U.S. beef industry and for European customers:

Dan Halstrom: It was an exciting day. White House press conference to announce the signing of the EU-U.S. Zero Duty Beef Quota which is going to enable us to in essence triple that market within a few years, so a very good day for beef producers and the beef industry in the U.S. today. So the issue we've had with the EU quota up until now is that, since it's applied quarterly, the quota has been exhausted within the first few weeks of the quarter because our competition around the world was getting in on that quota which makes the supply chain, the ability of our exporters to ship reliably every week, very much in question. This new deal is a U.S. only quota so this will make the supply train much smoother and from a customer basis allow us to get deeper penetration into the market. So, this has been a work in progress and really we have to shout out to the Trump administration and the USTR in particular for their tireless efforts to negotiate this agreement with the EU. They're a tough group to deal with, and Ambassador Lighthizer, Ambassador Dowd, Sharon Bomer and others have done a wonderful job in securing this agreement for the U.S. beef industry.

Joe Schuele: For more information, please visit USMEF.org. For the U.S. Meat Export Federation, I’m Joe Schuele.