The United States is the world’s leading beef producer and also imports more beef than any other nation, says a special article in Livestock and Poultry: World Markets and Trade. At 957,000 tons, imports surged to nearly 10 percent of U.S. beef supplies in 2014 — making the United States a net importer for the first time in at least three years. The influx offset to some degree the downturn in U.S. production as drought in the Southwest and high feed prices caused a reduction in cattle numbers since 2009. A recovery in the U.S. cattle inventory began this year, with beef production forecast to expand next year.
There is a sharp difference between U.S. beef imports and exports: the exports are generally higher-priced cuts of meat from grain-fed cattle while imports tend to be lower-value grass-fed beef that will be turned into ground meat. The difference in price meant that U.S. beef exports, worth $6.3 billion last year, were more valuable the imports, which had a sales value of $1 billion less.
The United States employs tariff-rate quotas against beef imports from most nations, including top supplier Australia, which provides more than a third of the imports. Beef from Canada and Mexico, as members of NAFTA, enter duty-free. Eleven nations are approved by the USDA to export beef to the United States.