The meat industry in Europe gets impulse after the suspension of US tariffs

The European Commission suspends for five years the community tariffs with the North American market, which means the growth of meat sales

During the EU-US Summit, the European Commission announced the suspension of tariffs between the two markets for a period of five years. This decision is a shock for the food industry in Europe, and it is a triumph celebrated by the markets of different countries of the European community, especially the meat industry.

The agreement reached between the European Commission and the United States puts an end, at least for five years, to a complicated situation for the agri-food market in Europe, which has had repercussions, among others, in the Spanish food and beverage sector. A situation that has also been aggravated by the pandemic, and in which the sale of pig meat has been greatly affected.

All in all, this is good news that will allow European countries, Spain included, to gain momentum to regain positions in the face of competition. The Spanish Federation of Food and Beverage Industries (FIAB in Spanish) has been satisfied with the agreement since, from its point of view, this solves a problem that has negatively affected Spanish food products, representing a “setback for many Spanish companies in favor of other competing countries”. For the FIAB, it is time to strengthen the Spanish food industry in a market as important as the United States.

The Spanish agri-food industry is expected to regain its position in the North American market in the next five years. Since in 2019 tariffs of 25% were imposed on 113 categories of Spanish products, which together represents 53.1% of total Spanish exports, products such as pork meat had suffered great losses. The United States is the second non-EU commercial partner after China and the fifth destination for foreign sales of the Spanish food industry. This agreement would be the opportunity to maintain and strengthen the transatlantic relationship, assuming a decisive step for the Spanish economy in the recovery after COVID-19.