WASHINGTON - Canadian and Mexican cattle producers testified that they are not to blame for the hard times now facing the U.S. cattle industry, while the U.S. Commerce Department once again gave itself more time to decide whether to investigate imports from both countries.
In testimony before staff aides of the U.S. International Trade Commission, Mexican and Canadian industry representatives said live cattle exports to the United States were too small to substantially harm U.S. producers.
Ben Thorkalson, president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, told the ITC staff that Canada's share of the U.S. live cattle market was “less than 4 percent and declining.”
Other factors, such as reduced Asian demand, ample supplies of pork and poultry and a weak cattle byproduct market, have had a far larger impact on U.S. cattle prices than imports from Canada and Mexico, Thorkalson said.
Jesus Ancheta, a trade official with Mexico's National Confederation of Cattle Ranchers, said also live cattle shipments from Mexico were too small to substantially harm U.S. producers. A far bigger concern is the dramatic rise in U.S. beef exports to Mexico in recent years, he said.
Ancheta also noted that Mexico exports “stocker” cattle weighing 460 to 600 pounds to the United States. By the time the cattle reach slaughter weights of about 1200 pounds, they are “really more U.S. cattle than Mexican,” he said
The ITC staff held its conference on live cattle imports from Mexico and Canada, even though the Commerce Department has not yet decided whether to look into the matter.
The Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Foundation (R-CALF), a U.S. grass roots group, filed petitions with Commerce on October 1 asking for investigation into whether Mexico and Canada were “dumping” cattle into the U.S. market.
R-CALF also filed a third petition the same day asking for a probe into whether countervailing duties on live cattle imports from Canada were warranted. The group estimates that Mexican and Canadian export practices cost U.S. cattle producers $1 billion to $2 billion each year in lower prices.
Commerce has an initial 20 days after receiving a petition to decide whether to launch an investigation. But in R-CALF's case, Commerce has already taken 60 days and still has not announced a decision.
Terry Stewart, outside counsel for R-CALF, said that Commerce officials are having difficulty determining whether the minimum threshold of at least 25 percent of the U.S. cattle industry supports pursuing the import investigations.
Although groups whose combined gross membership more than exceeds 25 percent of the industry have filed statements supporting the petitions, the agency remains concerned about “double counting” individuals who may belong to more than one group, Stewart said.
Commerce can decide to accept or reject any of three petitions without regard to the others. If a petition is rejected, the case ends there. If accepted, a further investigation is required to determine if anti-dumping or countervailing duties are warranted.
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