Facts about Beef & Cattle Imports and Exports

R-CALF USA

February 19, 2018

  1. The U.S. cattle industry is the largest segment of U.S. agriculture, generating about $70 billion in cash receipts annually.
  2. The U.S. is the world’s largest producer and world’s largest consumer of beef.
  3. The U.S. is the world’s largest beef importer and 4th largest beef exporter.
  4. The U.S. under-produces beef, meaning it does not produce enough beef to satisfy U.S. beef consumption and has not for more than 40 years.
  5. About 10% of U.S. beef production is exported.
  6. About 18% of all beef available in the U.S. market is imported.
  7. The U.S. runs a trade deficit with the rest of the world in the trade of cattle and beef. In 2016, U.S. imports at $7.1 billion overshadowed exports of $6.3 billion, leaving the U.S. with nearly a $1 billion deficit. The U.S.’s cumulative world trade deficit in cattle and beef over the past 25 years is $21 billion.
  8. The cattle and beef trade balance under NAFTA is worse, the 25-year cumulative NAFTA deficit is nearly $32 billion. In 2016 the U.S. imported $2.2 billion more beef and cattle than it exported to Canada and Mexico.
  9. The quality of beef the U.S. imports from Canada and Mexico is about the same as the exports the U.S. sends to those countries. In 2016, about 63% of NAFTA imports were muscle cuts, primals and subprimals, while only 28% were lower quality grinding products.
  10. Strangely, the U.S. imports products the U.S. typically does not consume, like tongues and liver. In 2015 the U.S. imported nearly 1,300 metric tons of tongues and over 800 metric tons of liver from Canada.
  11. In 2016, beef exports represented about $260 for every fed animal slaughtered in the U.S., but imports represented about $290 for each of those animals, leaving the U.S. cattle producer with a net loss of about $30 per head.
  12. Although 95% of the world’s population lives outside the U.S., the U.S. cattle industry is losing its share of its own market – the U.S. market. This is because importers of cheaper foreign cattle and beef are capturing more and more of the U.S. market. This explains why the U.S. persistently underproduces for the U.S. market and cannot satisfy its own domestic demand for beef.
  13. Because imported cattle and beef are cheaper than comparable U.S. cattle and beef, imports impair the United States cattle industry’s ability to rebuild and grow its herd, which has been trending downward since 1976.
  14. From 2013 to 2015, the volume of imported beef and cattle increased nearly 27%, which caused the U.S. cattle market to collapse in 2015 and 2016. Because these imports are not labeled as to their origin, U.S. cattle producers cannot effectively compete against these mounting foreign supplies.