In comprehensive comments submitted recently to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), R-CALF USA states the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) benefited transnational meatpackers at the expense of the majority of U.S. cattlemen, meaning all those who sell exclusively U.S.-born and -raised cattle.
The group explained that NAFTA gave transnational packers access to cheaper-priced cattle and beef from Canada and Mexico that are direct substitutes for U.S. cattle and beef. And, because packers do not have to disclose the origins of imported beef to consumers, bringing additional supplies of cheaper cattle and beef into the domestic market lowers the price for domestic cattle.
R-CALF’s Bill Bullard comments was featured on American Cattle News:
