UK gives over beef and ethanol market share in US trade deal

In the UK, the highly anticipated UK-USA framework agreement has been announced. In return for the removal of 25% additional tariffs on steel and aluminium, and a quota of 100,000 cars at a duty of 10%, the UK Government has made concessions on two sectors of agriculture. Specifically, the US will have access to the UK beef market through a tariff rate quota of 13,000t (shipped weight) hormone-free beef.

In return, the UK will gain 13,000t of ring-fenced access to the US beef market. The US will also have access to full liberalisation of the UK bioethanol market. Remaining tariffs are unchanged, and the US 10% additional tariff continues to apply on all UK exports to the USA.

“For several years, we’ve campaigned with the UK’s agricultural attachés in Washington for market access for British beef, a product globally respected for its quality and strong environmental credentials. These efforts have contributed to enabling the UK government to secure ring-fenced access for British beef exports to the US,” NFU President Tom Bradshaw said.

“However, the inclusion of a significant volume of bioethanol in the deal raises concerns for British arable farmers.”

Biofuels are extremely important for the crops sector, and their domestic demand of up to 2 million tonnes can be very important to balance supply and demand and to produce up to one million tons of animal feed as a by-product. Therefore, fully liberalising our ethanol market could translate into the loss of this profitable outlet for our arable growers.