BRUSSELS: The European Union has agreed a deal to allow US farmers a larger share of Europe’s beef market, EU sources and diplomats said, in a move that could help to defuse transatlantic trade tensions.

The deal will result in the United States securing a guaranteed share of a 45,000 tonne EU quota for hormone-free beef. The quota was agreed in 2009 to settle a dispute between the two over an EU ban on the use of growth hormones in meat.

US farmers initially dominated the quota, but under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules it also had to be made available to non-US suppliers.

Australia and Uruguay, and more recently Argentina, have steadily increased their exports, pushing down the US share of the quota to about 30 per cent.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2019