Argentina appears ready to reaching an agreement to reopen beef exports. The country’s government had suspended those in an attempt to drive down domestic food prices. Argentina competes with the U.S. for the Chinese market. Kent Bacus, Senior Director of International Trade and Market Access for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says Argentina restricting their beef exports has been positive for the U.S. in supplying China with beef.
He says even with Argentina possibly resuming exports and trying to get back into China, the U.S. still has an advantage when it comes to quality.
Bacus says in the past Argentina had problems with Foot and Mouth Disease but has corrected those. He says even though they’re allowed to ship beef to the U.S. they can only do it on small scale. Bacus says because of that the bigger concern with Argentina remains competition for China.
Bacus says China right now is the biggest trade opportunity for the U.S.
