Lamb, Mutton Imports Decline
In Wake Of Tariff Imposition

WASHINGTON — USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service has finally released the meat import information for a four-week period ending on August 21. The weekly information has an automatic 45-day delay in release so all the information can be properly compiled and allows for late or slow-coming information to be included.

For the last six weeks the information has been double-slow in coming; it all came in this week.

For the week ending July 24, the last week prior to imposition of the new import tariff on Australian and New Zealand lamb, import volume reached the highest level since March. Since then the lamb import volume has been coming down.

From a level of the equivalent of 71 percent of domestic production the week ending July 24 it worked down to 37 percent the week ending August 21.

The volume of domestic lamb and mutton production the week ending July 24 was 4.1 million pounds; lamb imports were 2.9 million pounds, 71 percent; the week ending July 31, production was four million pounds, imports two million or 50 percent; August 7, production 3.9 million pounds, imports 1.8 or 46 percent; August 14, production 4.1, imports 1.8 or 44 percent; and the week ending August 21, production was 4.2 million pounds, imports 1.5 million pounds or 37 percent.

The U.S. Commerce Department's Foreign Agriculture Service calculated lamb imports for the month of July at 3571 metric tons, or 7.86 million pounds, bringing year to date lamb imports to 21,983 mt, or 48.36 million pounds.

There were also 830 metric tons, or 1.8 million pounds, of mutton and goat meat imported in July, bringing the year to date volume to 8544 mt, or 18.8 million pounds.

New Zealand lamb production is at the low point of the year and supplies are beginning to tighten up. Lamb slaughter is running around 175,000 head per week and mutton slaughter around 30,000 head.

Year to date U.S. lamb imports are 22 percent above a year ago and 31 percent less than the total for last year.

Last year’s total of 31,851 metric tons is the point at which the additional tariff will be triggered. Currently the tariff is nine percent on all lamb and it will move to 40 percent on Australian and New Zealand lamb when the volume reaches 31,851 mt.

Mutton and goat meat imports for the year are down 38 percent from a year ago, and are only 43 percent of the total for all of last year.