A Little More Insight on Meat Trade

By David Anderson

Over the last 2 months, the rapidly changing tariff environment has had livestock market analysts anxiously awaiting USDA trade data releases.  The latest monthly trade data from the USDA was published on June 6^th.  It included meat and livestock exports and imports for April 2025.
 
Trade is interesting because of all the moving parts.  Tariffs are only a part of the story.  Domestic production impacts prices, creating incentives to import or export.  For example, record high beef prices creates an incentive to import more beef and export less.  

Relative prices between countries, exchange rates, shipping costs and availability, and other countries’ actions may impact trade, overwhelming the effect of a new tariff.