The Brazilian agriculture ministry recently confirmed two cases of “atypical” bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

Beef exports have evolved significantly in recent years in a very dynamic environment of global politics and trade policies, direct and indirect impacts of animal disease outbreaks, and growing beef preferences and consumption.

The European Parliament, the legislative body of the European Union (EU), voted to allow the U.S. a larger share of the current 45,000-ton quota, beginning in 2020.

USMCA moves forward

After a year of debate and negotiations, the Trump administration and U.S. House Democrats have finally reached an agreement on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), needed to make it ready for ratification from Congress. 

October beef exports totaled 108,017 metric tons (MT), an 8% decline from last year's large volume, while export value ($649.1 million) was down 11%. Through the first 10 months of 2019, beef exports were down 2.5% in volume (1.1 million MT) and value ($6.75 billion) from last year's record pace.

President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe officially finalized the much-anticipated limited U.S.-Japan trade agreement and its digital counterpart in a signing ceremony at the White House in early October.

The latest livestock and meat monthly trade data from the Economic Research Service (ERS) was released on Oct. 7 and included the month of August 2019 as the most recent data available.

Uncertainty over trade policy, weather and African swine fever dominated agricultural markets last quarter, causing greater volatility across the industry that’s affecting producers, supply chains and end users, according to the latest Quarterly Rural Economic Review from the CoBank Knowledge Exchange division.

President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe signed a limited trade deal Sept. 25 that includes reduced tariffs on U.S. meats.