The White House announced last week that an agreement has been reached that will restore U.S. beef access to China.
The Trump administration said that following one more round of technical consultations between the United States and China, China is to allow imports of U.S. beef on conditions consistent with international food safety and animal health standards and consistent with the 1999 Agricultural Cooperation Agreement, beginning as soon as possible but no later than July 16, 2017.
?After being locked out of the world?s largest market for 13 years, we strongly welcome the announcement that an agreement has been made to restore U.S. beef exports to China. It?s impossible to overstate how beneficial this will be for America?s cattle producers, and the Trump Administration deserves a lot of credit for getting this achieved,? said Craig Uden, National Cattlemen?s Beef Association president. ?We look forward to providing nearly 1.4 billion new customers in China with the same safe and delicious U.S. beef that we feed our families. I look forward to the day when we can serve President Trump and President Xi a dry-aged American-made New York strip in Beijing.?
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue hailed the agreement between the United States and China on several key trade issues, most notably the return of American beef to the Chinese market after a hiatus that began in 2004.
?This is tremendous news for the American beef industry, the agriculture community, and the U.S. economy in general. We will once again have access to the enormous Chinese market, with a strong and growing middle class, which had been closed to our ranchers for a long, long time,? Perdue said. ?I commend the persistence of President Trump, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, the U.S. Trade Representative?s officials, and our own USDA professionals. I also thank our Chinese counterparts, who worked so hard to get this agreement into place. When the Chinese people taste our high-quality U.S. beef, there?s no doubt in my mind that they?ll want more of it.?
