The Press WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1964. A Market For Beef In The U.S.

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30369, 19 February 1964, Page 16

The Press WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1964. A Market For Beef In The U.S.

Ordinarily, New Zealand

has no reason to be enthusiastic about any agreement which restricts the

expansion of its trade in beef and veal; but good cause for satisfaction can be found in the agreement announced yesterday by the Prime Minister. This agreement secures to New Zealand a small but growing share of the United States market for these commodi- 1 ties when all the signs pointed to increasing protectionism in response to pressure from beef-growers in the United States. New Zealand’s exports of beef and veal to the United. States, though important in the New Zealand export economy, represent so small a proportion of American consumption that they could affect prices little if at all, especially as New Zealand beef is

directed not to the primequality market but to the “ hamburger ” market. However, had the agreement not been made, no-one can say what the farm lobby might have achieved in an American election year. Since New Zealand is only one of a number of countries which have substantially increased their exports of beef to the United States in the last five years, arrangements made with the others might affect the results of the agreement between this country and the United States. It is satisfactory, therefore, to have the Prime Minister’s assurance that New Zealand will not be adversely affected by agreements with other suppliers, which are now the subject of discussions.

Both the Prime Minister and the chairman of the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board (Mr J. D. Ormond) have acknowledged appreciatively the good will shown by the United States interests during the discussions that led to the agreement; and it is certainly satisfactory that the permissible level of exports for this year—on which the modest increases for the two succeeding years will be based—is high enough to permit the shipment of all the beef and veal expected to be available for the United States market. The Meat Board will now be able to plan an export programme with greater assurance. The Prime Minister’s statement mentions that although no agreement could be reached for a reduction of the tariff on beef and veal, the New Zealand Government had expressed the hope that in the forthcoming so-called “ Kennedy round ” of G.A.T.T. negotiations, the current United States tariff would be reduced. Because low prices give New Zealand beef a strongly competitive position in the American market, access to the market is more important to New Zealand than tariffs. New Zealand may well have to thank the “ Kennedy round ”, in some measure at least, for the agreement. This is the medium by which the United States Government hopes to persuade all nations to join in an assault on the barriers to world trade; and they will certainly be persuaded more surely by example than by precept. This is a very good example indeed.