United States trade officials have been busy this year working on several bilateral trade pacts. National Cattlemen’s Beef Associations Senior Director of International Trade and Market Access Kent Bacus says the COVID 19 pandemic has created a lot of uncertainty lately for exporters and their buyers. He says one of the top customers for U.S. beef, Mexico has dropped off their amount of purchases and it will take time to get that market back.
He says the U.S. continues to talk with the European Union about a possible free trade deal but sticking points remain on tariffs on certain products.
Bacus says everyone’s watching to see what happens with the Presidential election which is just days away. He says whatever the result, trade and markets will be effected.
Bacus says it’ll be better for U.S. beef because new trade standards have been set this year that will open markets that were closed prior to 2020. He says prior to this year, expanded markets were poised to happen in China and the European Union. He says then the U.S. finalized the USMCA deal and got a pact with Japan.
