USMCA Will Hurt Nebraska Ranchers

The Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska continue to oppose the pending U.S.- Mexico-Canada trade agreement because it will open the doors to more burdensome supplies of beef in the U.S. beef market.

Not only that, because there is no country-of-origin label provision in the agreement, packers can import Canadian and Mexican beef into the U.S., process and market it as a product of the United States

The USMCA trade agreement will also heighten the annual beef trade deficit. The average annual trade deficit in cattle and beef products with Canada and Mexico has been $1.4 billion during the years of NAFTA (1994-2018), according to the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund – United Stockgrowers of America, citing information from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service.

The size of trade deficit flies in the face of President Trump’s efforts to Make America Great Again.

The United States imports more beef than any other country in the world, ICON President Jim Dinklage said.

“At times, the U.S. is a net import beef country, meaning that we import more live and raw unprocessed beef than we export,” Dinklage said. “Packers can bring in beef from other countries, depress the U.S. market, and then falsely label it as U.S. beef. It’s a sweet deal for them, but a raw deal for ranchers. Live feeder calf markets are down $150-$200 per head from last year.”

Congress could soften the detrimental impact of U.S beef imports by requiring country-of-origin labels. The labels would allow consumers to know where their beef comes from.

Since NAFTA was enacted, 20% of America’s cattle producers, 25% of U.S. livestock auction yards, 48 meatpacking plants and 75% of all U.S. cattle feedlots have gone out of business, according to R-CALF / USA.

The USMCA has not yet been ratified by the U.S. Senate. It can still be modified, similar to the way that stronger labor standards, enforcement mechanisms, and improvements to environmental protection were added to the agreement before it came up for a vote Dec. 19 in the U.S. House of Representatives.

ICON urges cattlemen to call their senators and tell them not to support the USMCA unless it requires country of origin labels for beef.