U.S. beef trade in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement : analysis of relevant markets and potential scenarios

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement is a comprehensive regional free trade agreement negotiated by twelve countries around the Pacific Rim covering issues from agriculture to services to intellectual property. The US beef industry has long been supporters of free trade and believes there is much to gain from a comprehensive agreement reduces tariff and non-tariff trade barriers within this region. This research seeks to lay a foundation by analyzing current beef import and export volumes between the US and key players in the TPP Agreement down to the six and nine digit tariff level in order to better understand the intricacies of beef trade in the Pacific region. In addition, the current tariff and non-tariff trade barriers between TPP countries in relation to beef along with existing free trade agreements is outlined in specific detail. This research utilizes a linked US beef and international trade model to simulate effects on the US beef industry on both a full and partial tariff elimination scenario as well as a scenario with and without improved SPS measures resulting from a potential TPP Agreement. This research was conducted before the TPP Agreement was finalized and was designed to build a foundation for analysis of beef trade in a final TPP agreement