U.S. Meat Export Potential in ASEAN

Meat exports, which are important for the U.S. agricultural sector, have more than doubled in the past 4 decades, increasing from $13.5 billion (in 2022 prices) in 1980 to $32.4 billion in 2022 (USDA, 2023). The United States plays an important role as a supplier of beef, pork, and chicken to the global market, and a substantial portion of U.S. meat exports are destined for Asian markets, including South Korea (representing 8% of U.S. meat exports in 2022), Japan (11%), China/Hong Kong (10%), and Taiwan (4%) (USDA, 2022). However, there is potential for expanded U.S. exports to Asia, including increased meat exports to the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).1 Future export growth for U.S. meat depends on income growth of importing countries, competitiveness of U.S. products, and access to global markets. Trade barriers, such as import tariffs, hamper U.S. exports. Even though the average tariff rates on imports into ASEAN countries decreased from 9% in 2000 to 4.5% in 2015, nontariff measures (NTMs)— mostly related to sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures and technical barriers to trade—increased from 1,634 to 5,975 measures over the same period (UNCTAD, 2016). Although ASEAN established several preferential trade agreements, trade barriers remain on agricultural products, and there is no trade agreement between the United States and ASEAN (Beckman, Gopinath, and Daugherty, 2021). This article examines the ASEAN meat import market and the potential for increased U.S. meat exports to ASEAN resulting from tariff removal for animal products.