U.S. ag gains market access in Tunisia

Apr 18, 2019

The African country will import U.S. beef, poultry and egg products

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

The U.S. government has secured market access in a North African country for several American farmers.

Federal trade representative Robert Lighthizer and ag secretary Sonny Perdue announced that Tunisia will allow imports of U.S. beef, poultry and egg products.

The two countries already have an existing ag trade relationship.

Tunisia’s ag imports from the U.S. totaled more than US$264 million in 2018. Corn, soybeans and related products accounted for over 90 percent of the total amount, the USDA says.

“While we continue to supply Tunisia’s domestic animal proteins sector with quality U.S. grains and oilseeds, I have no doubt that U.S. beef, poultry and eggs will only help increase competitiveness and consumer choice within Tunisia, Secretary Perdue said in a statement yesterday.

U.S. farmers welcome the additional market access.

Early estimates indicate Tunisia would import between US$5 and US$10 million of beef, poultry and egg products annually with additional growth over time.

Getting more U.S. products to global markets is important to the industry’s health, said Grant Breitkreutz, a beef producer from Redwood Falls, Minn. and president-elect of the Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association.

“As a cattle producer any and all exports are extremely important to maintaining the value and increasing the value of the products we produce on our beef farms,” he told Farms.com. “Market prices are in a pretty stable state right now so hopefully we can take advantage of that with this new market access.”

Farms.com has reached out to members of the poultry and egg sectors for comment on the trade access with Tunisia.

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