USMEF: August outstanding Month for Beef Exports

According to the latest numbers from the USDA, American beef exports enjoyed solid numbers in the month of August.  USMEF Trade Analyst Jessica Spreitzer said exports to Japan were surprisingly large.

“This was actually the highest volume of U.S. Beef exports to Japan in the post BSE era and we saw increases over last year in both chilled and frozen beef.  Even though August was the first month the U.S. faced a higher tariff due to safe guards in Japan for frozen beef.”

Japan increased those tariffs earlier this year from 38% to 50%.  Spreitzer noted only time will tell if the tariff increase will have a long-term impact on beef exports to Japan.  She added it’s wasn’t just Japan that reported growth.

“We’ve also seen rebounding volumes to Hong Kong, starting in the middle part of this year and we saw that growth continue in August.”

Exports to Hong Kong increased 25% year over year.

August pork exports increased from the previous month but were down slightly year-over-year.

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