An Iowa cattle producer recently visited the nations of Viet Nam and Philippines as part of an Iowa trade mission headed up by Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig.  Dean Black is a director with the Iowa Beef Industry Council and his impression of the two southeast Asian countries is there holds a lot of potential for U-S beef exports.  However, as Black and others on the trade tour soon realized is that tariffs make it difficult for the U-S beef industry to compete against other nations.

Black says he is hopeful the existing tariffs can be eliminated as the Vietnamese people prefer the taste of U-S beef.

Black says the Vietnamese people can see and taste the difference between corn-fed beef from the United States and grass-fed beef from Australia.  He says the Vietnamese consumer enjoys a selection of variety meats, such as beef tongue, which is not as popular in the United States.