Agricultural News
NCBA's Kent Bacus Sees Progress in Beef Trade With China
Mon, 23 Mar 2020 10:02:27 CDT
On today's Beef Buzz, Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays talks with Kent Bacus, senior director of international trade and market access for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, about increasing trade with China. This good news comes at a time when we could all use some positive information.
China is making progress in implementing the phase one agreement of the trade package by eliminating non-trade tariff barriers.
"We couldn't be more excited," Bacus said.
He noted the barriers meant the U.S. had no real incentive to sell beef to China.
Bacus said the two biggest barriers to trade have been dropped. These include removing the BSE, 30-month restriction on cattle, and the establishment of maximum residue levels for three commonly used hormones.
China now recognizes the safety of our cattle, Bacus said.
These hormones are safe, FDA approved and have been used in the industry for decades, Bacus said. This is reflective of international standards. China is getting on board with the science-based process.
"This is a major shift in Chinese policy," Bacus said.
The NCBA official added it is still going to take time to build the market in China but this will give U.S. beef producers much better access to the global market.
He cautioned there are still trade tariffs between the U.S. and China as we wait for China to fully implement the phase one agreement. Bacus said these tariffs will eventually come off and we will all be better off when we come out the other side of this COVID-19 crisis.
Click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear the complete interview with Kent Bacus as he talks with Ron Hays.
The Beef buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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