Keep Pushing Meat Import Law

Keep Pushing Meat Import Law

As Congress gets down to business again this week following the return of the Republicans from San Francisco, it is expected that the Senate may take up the bill (H. R. 1839) which deals with establishment of controls on the importation of beef into the U. S. Senator Mansfield, the majority leader, said the bill will be called to the floor for debate as soon as possible after the convention. It was reported out of the Senate finance committee favorably on July 1.

Thus despite strong objections from the administration and thinly veiled threats that the President will veto such legislation even if Congress passes it, the meat import measure is moving along. It will take a lot of pushing by livestock and other interested groups, for it has a rocky road to traverse.

This bill would restrict beef and veal imports, beginning next Jan. 1, down to around 6 per cent of total production compared to the 11 per cent which was reached in 1963. It specifically limits imports to the average of the past five years, 1959 to 1963, inclusive. It also eliminates the controversial “annual growth factor,” which granted foreign nations the right to increase their meat exports to the U. S. in line with our population growth and supposed demand growth. Substitute provisions were made to hold imports to the 6-7 per cent level in pounds, including cooked, canned and cured beef, unless average beef cattle prices reach or exceed 90 per cent of parity.

Senator Mansfield told the Senate the other day that beef imports are expected to be below the 6 per cent level for the rest of this year and into next year. This is due, he explained, to the fact that Australia and New Zealand have diverted some of their excess to western European markets, and because there happens to be a shortage of beef in much of the rest of the world and we are finding new markets in various countries.

He noted also that the government is spending close to $100 million in the buying of domestic beef in the USD A buying program, and the Defense department has bought something like 100 million pounds for western Europe, which they ordinarily might have bought in western Europe.

Listening to this explanation, Senator Morse was moved to comment to his fellow senators that he is wholeheartedly behind this bill, but wonders whether it “goes far enough.” He said the Congress may as well “do the job completely” while it has the opportunity.

Cattlemen certainly echo those sentiments. While the pressure of meat imports has been reduced from a year ago, taking the heat off prices, so to speak, there is no assurance that this relief is anything more substantial than temporary. Because of that, the cattlemen’s organizations continue to emphasize the need for doing something positive about long-term quotas on beef imports. They point out that the 7 months of hearings by the U.S. Tariff Commission brought out reams of facts to show the need for standing regulation of meat imports that would guard the industry in the years to come.

“The commission’s statistics show again the build-up in world cattle numbers, especially in countries depending heavily on export of livestock or livestock products,” said C. W. (Bill) McMillan, executive vice-president of the American National Cattlemen’s Assn. “Without legislation to keep beef from flooding this country without regard to domestic supplies, the U. S. livestock industry will face constant disruption.”

The Tariff Commission report, which was requested originally by the Senate Finance Committee, contained no recommendations or conclusions to the committee, which similarly had held hearings on beef imports. Some argued that it made a case for the administration’s point of view—namely, that beef imports have more impact on canner and cutter cow prices than on best quality fed cattle. But others, like the cattlemen’s organizations, insisted that the report proved -that positive-beef import-■legislation was a necessity. f

So, while the study has ended, the controversy has not. And there is far from unanimous agreement on the fact that beef import legislation is necessary. Cattlemen will need to muster all the support they can get if we arc to see such a law passed by this Congress.

Reprinted from Drovers Journal