The E.U. Outstrips the U.S. in Transatlantic Meat Trade

The transatlantic meat trade has become big business for the United States and the European Union in recent years. It could be given a further boost once the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement, currently under discussion, has been successfully negotiated.

This could prove the largest bilateral free trade agreement in history. Meat exports across the Atlantic have already demonstrated their immense financial value in both directions. The United States is the EU’s biggest market for agricultural exports and meat exports have been rising over the past three years.

Europe comes fifth on the list of America’s most important agricultural trading partners – an EU ban on hormone-treated meat and meat products has caused difficulty for the US meat industry who have cast their eyes towards China.

In 2010, EU meat exports to the United States were worth $1.65 billion, a number which grew to $2.15 billion in 2012. By comparison, American meat shipments to Europe fell from $1.15 billion in 2011 to $988 million in 2012.