New negotiations on trade in agriculture were recently initiated by the World Trade Organization (WTO). These negotiations are focusing on extending the gains to world trade achieved in the 1994 Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture (URAA). Gains to world trade have occurred under the URAA as a result of limits placed on the use of tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade, export subsidies, and the type and level of spending for domestic support programs by WTO member countries. For the beef sector, the URAA, continuing a process of increasing market access begun in the 1970s, has further increased U.S. and world beef trade. While export subsidies and non-tariff trade barriers may continue to limit the market for U.S. beef exports, additional increases in market access in these negotiations may increase U.S. beef exports. The extent will largely depend upon the degree of reductions in tariffs.
