Guatemala agrees to lift tariffs on US chicken imports

The government of Guatemala has agreed to lift all import tariffs on bone-in U.S. chicken parts, according to an announcement from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).

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The government of Guatemala has agreed to lift all import tariffs on bone-in U.S. chicken parts, according to an announcement from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).

In a release, USTR said that Guatemala will drop the tariff on U.S. chicken 4.5 years ahead of schedule.

The USA Poultry & Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) applauded the announcement. “We are most pleased to see this increased level access for bone-in chicken leg meat to Guatemala, which has been one of our fastest growing export markets,” said USAPEEC President Jim Sumner. “We appreciate USTR’s support of this acceleration of our CAFTA agreement provisions.”

The decision means that the 12.5 percent tariff will be eliminated on an existing annual tariff rate quota of 1,000 metric tons of fresh, frozen and chilled chicken leg quarters from the U.S.

“This notable achievement for U.S. poultry exporters is a result of negotiations that USTR commenced in February 2017,” said the USTR announcement. “This market opening benefits U.S. poultry exporters and expands trade for U.S. agriculture producers.”

Both the tariff and the TRQ will be completely eliminated on January 1, 2022.

The U.S. exported $82 million worth of poultry to Guatemala last year, making it the sixth largest export market for the U.S., according to government data.

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