The New Agricultural Trade Negotiations: Background and Issues for the U.S. Beef Sector

Overview

New negotiations on trade in agriculture were recently initiated by the World Trade Organization. The negotiations focus on extending the gains to world trade achieved in the 1994 Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture (URAA), which limited the use of tariffs and non-tariff barriers, export subsidies, and the type and level of spending for domestic support programs. For the beef sector, the URAA further increased U.S. and world beef trade. While export subsidies and non-tariff barriers may continue to limit the market for U.S. beef exports, obtaining additional increases in market access in these negotiations may increase U.S. beef exports.