On July 17th the United States Department of Agriculture USDAA) predicted that exports of beef would decline by nearly 8% this year.
Japan buys about one-third of American exports of beef, veal and other beef products, worth $1 billion in 2002.
Exports of beef, one of the most promising sectors, have been hit by an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the south.
Meanwhile they note that soybean and wheat prices are improving and exports of beef, interrupted for several months by a foot-and-mouth-disease scare, have resumed.
A report by Merrill Lynch today suggested most of the economic impact in Canada would be psychological, noting that total annual exports of beef products are equivalent to two weeks of Canadian auto exports.
Does the country have to choose between the forest and foreign exchange?The main driver of deforestation, according to a new report by the Centre for International Forestry Research CIFORR), is a recent surge in exports of beef.
With exports of beef and cattle bringing in about 4 billion Canadian dollars ($2.84 billion) last year, or 60percentt of the industry's revenue, the ban is cutting a wide swath, especially in the prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
But as the dollar has risen sharply in value against other currencies, it has caused Argentina's exports of beef, grain and manufactured goods to slump, reducing foreign currency earnings and making foreign debt harder to repay.
According to a summary released by the Australian government, the deal would further cut tariffs on exports of beef to Japan, eliminate barriers on beef into Mexico and Canada within 10 years, and scrap the safeguard on beef exports that was included in Australia's previous free trade agreement with the United States.
