Productivity Commission Finds Imports Didn’t Hurt Australian Pork Producers...

Productivity Commission Finds Imports Didn’t Hurt Australian Pork Producers

The Australian Government’s Productivity Commission has found that U.S. pork exports to Australia were not responsible for the difficulties faced by its pork producers. Australia’s pork industry had asked the government to investigate pork imports and to impose safeguard tariffs of up to 62 percent. USMEF, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), the American Meat Institute (AMI) and the American Pork Exporters Trading Company (APEX) united in presenting evidence for the U.S. pork industry.

“We made the case that our pork exports to Australia did no harm to domestic producers,” said USMEF President & CEO Philip Seng, “and this ruling by the Productivity Commission vindicates our arguments. The Australian beef and lamb industries have been very successful with increasing their exports but free trade cuts both ways. The increase in input prices for production is a global phenomenon but the U.S. pork industry has successfully managed its escalating production costs better than its global competition. The appreciation of the Australian dollar compared to the U.S. dollar is another contributing factor.”

Until 2004, the U.S. could only export cooked pork to Australia. USMEF cooperated with the National Pork Board and the NPPC in responses to a pork import risk analysis conducted by the Australian government and the market opened after a February 2004 risk assessment reported that the likelihood of Post Weaning Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome (PMWS) disease being brought into the country through pork imports was negligible. USMEF also conducted a market assessment in 2003 detailing the market potential.

Under World Trade Organization rules member countries can impose safeguard duties for up to four years if “a surge of imports causes or threatens to cause serious material injury to a domestic industry.”

The Australian government will make a final decision shortly on the matter after reviewing the report from the Productivity Commission.

In 2007, the United States exported 31,895 metric tons of pork and pork variety meats valued at $99.86 million to Australia.

Productivity Commission Finds Imports Didn’t Hurt Australian Pork Producers

The Australian Government’s Productivity Commission has found that U.S. pork exports to Australia were not responsible for the difficulties faced by its pork producers. Australia’s pork industry had asked the government to investigate pork imports and to impose safeguard tariffs of up to 62 percent. USMEF, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), the American Meat Institute (AMI) and the American Pork Exporters Trading Company (APEX) united in presenting evidence for the U.S. pork industry.

“We made the case that our pork exports to Australia did no harm to domestic producers,” said USMEF President & CEO Philip Seng, “and this ruling by the Productivity Commission vindicates our arguments. The Australian beef and lamb industries have been very successful with increasing their exports but free trade cuts both ways. The increase in input prices for production is a global phenomenon but the U.S. pork industry has successfully managed its escalating production costs better than its global competition. The appreciation of the Australian dollar compared to the U.S. dollar is another contributing factor.”

Until 2004, the U.S. could only export cooked pork to Australia. USMEF cooperated with the National Pork Board and the NPPC in responses to a pork import risk analysis conducted by the Australian government and the market opened after a February 2004 risk assessment reported that the likelihood of Post Weaning Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome (PMWS) disease being brought into the country through pork imports was negligible. USMEF also conducted a market assessment in 2003 detailing the market potential.

Under World Trade Organization rules member countries can impose safeguard duties for up to four years if “a surge of imports causes or threatens to cause serious material injury to a domestic industry.”

The Australian government will make a final decision shortly on the matter after reviewing the report from the Productivity Commission.

In 2007, the United States exported 31,895 metric tons of pork and pork variety meats valued at $99.86 million to Australia.