After demands from U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill and a bipartisan group of her colleagues, President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping struck a tentative agreement for China to lift its beef import ban, paving the way for Missouri ranchers to export their beef to the world's most populated country.
"This is a big opportunity for Missouri ranchers to create jobs and increase their profits," McCaskill said. "China is the second largest beef importer in the world, so expanding access into China for Missouri ranchers can have a huge impact on our state's agricultural economy."
McCaskill and 38 other Senators sent a bipartisan letter last week to President Trump ahead of his meeting with the Chinese President demanding him to prioritize the negotiations to open up the Chinese market to U.S. beef. "The U.S. produces the highest quality of beef in the world, and ensuring that U.S. beef is treated fairly and foreign tax and regulatory barriers are lowered is of utmost importance," wrote McCaskill and her colleagues. "We are confident that given a level-playing field, U.S. ranchers can compete successfully and increase exports in any foreign market."
Earlier this month, McCaskill and a group of colleagues urged President Trump to address Chinese steel dumping and overcapacity and hold China accountable on trade during President Xi's visit. In 2015, McCaskill joined a bipartisan effort urging President Barack Obama to make the Chinese approval process for the biotech agriculture industry a priority prior to Chinese President Xi's visit to the United States.
McCaskill is a longtime advocate for ensuring Missouri's farmers and ranchers have the resources and markets they need to succeed. She embarked on a statewide Agriculture Tour in the summer of 2015 where she heard directly from a wide variety of producers, farmers, ranchers, researchers, and other stakeholders in all corners of the state on Missouri's agriculture needs.