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Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
December 18, 1959
TOTAL IMPORTS OF LIVESTOCK, MEAT and meat
products into the U. S. in 1959 will be close to $600
million . Exports remained close to the 1958 level of
$287 million. However, even this high level of meat
imports represents less than 4 per cent of U. S. production of red meats.
The imports last year consisted primarily of meat
products and livestock, while exports consisted largely
of livestock by-products and specialty meats.
Fluctuations of net trade in livestock, meat and
meat products have tended to offset •flu~tuations in
domestic production of meat. In 1956, when total meat
production and per capita consumption were at record
levels, net exports were $154 million. In 1958, with
lower meat production and higher prices, the trade balance had shifted to net imports of $225 million.
million dollars
+6 00
U. S. Trade in

Livestock, Meat,
and Meat Products
+400
exports
___ ,
,_,- ,-

+200

,-----~

gricult ural
~etter
Number 539
thousand head are expected to cross the borders this
year, a decline from the 1.2 million head last year.

U.S. Exports-Imports of Beef and Veal Meat
and Meat Products
Imports

1955

1956

1957

1958

1959*

---------~milllonpounds
..----- ~
-------- --

Fresh and frozen .....
Pickled or cured .....
Canned ...........

26
5
87

31
8
73

126
11
95

358
6
113

539
9
93

Total imports ......

119

112

232

478

641

Fresh and frozen .....
Pickled or cured .....
Canned ...........

18
17
5

61
16
5

71
15
3

7
16
2

7
14

Total exports ......

41

81

89

25

24

Total U. S. production . 15,147

16,094

15,739

14,531

14,700

Exports

,
___ .,,,,, ,

L

3

* 1959 partially forecast.

net imports

-200
I

I

I

I

I

1952
'53
'54
'55
'56
'57
'58
'59
Beef and veal have comprised the largest share
of imports of meat and livestock. However, even at
their high levels in 1959, beef imports will account for
only 6 per cent of total U. S. beef supply.
The amount and type of beef and veal imported has
varied according to the level of beef production in the
U. S. In 1956, a year of large per capita supply of beef, .
fresh and frozen imports were half as large as canrre"d •w,
beef, whereas, in 1959, a year of relatively small per
capita supply of beef, the fresh and frozen category w}ll
be nearly six times as large.
In contrast, exports of fresh and frozen .b eef were
at high levels in 1956 and 1957, but, by 1959, exports of
fresh beef were very low.
Cattle imports also vary closely with the U. S.
cattle cycle, though in several years embargoes due to
hoof for
andFRASER
mouth disease restricted imports. About 840
Digitized
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Shipments of Canadian feeder cattle, which account
for over half the U. S. imports, dropped off sharply after
the middle of 1959. In part, this is a reflection of lo-ver
pric~s on feeder cattle · in the U. S. this fall and, in part,
it is ·, a reflection of the upswing in cattle number. in
Canada after the forced reduction in b,eeding h, rds du1ing
the 1QS8 drought.
•

I

Iinports of Mexican cattle, which account for about
40 per cent of the total, have similarly been reduced due
to the imposition of an export quota by the Mex can
government of 380 thousand head. This is nearly f 20
per cent reduction from the 461 thousand head mo ing
north from Mexico in the year ending August 31, E 59.
Meat imports benefit consumers by complemen ing
domestic supplies in periods of low production, hus
evening out consumption. Producers also receive s ) fie
benefits, though indirectly.
The dampening of p ice
increases in periods of low production tend to reduce the
violence of the upswing in production and the p ice
consequences which would follow.
Research Department