USTR Announces New Access for U.S. Poultry Exports to Guatemala

Guatemala to Eliminate Tariffs on U.S. Poultry

Information derived from United States Trade Representative

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that the United States and Guatemala have reached an agreement that will benefit U.S. poultry producers.

Under the agreement, Guatemala will unilaterally accelerate the elimination of tariffs on U.S. exports of fresh, frozen, and chilled chicken leg quarters. Without this agreement, U.S. poultry exports would have faced a tariff of 12.5 percent this year.

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

Under this new agreement, Guatemala’s elimination of tariffs for fresh, frozen and chilled poultry will occur four and a half years earlier than originally planned.

Guatemala and the United States also reached a bilateral agreement for Guatemala to establish a tariff rate quota allowing imports of 1,000 metric tons of processed chicken leg quarters to enter duty free each year through December 31, 2021. The tariffs and tariff-rate quota will be eliminated effective January 1, 2022.

Background

U.S. agricultural exports to Guatemala were over $1.1 billion in 2016, of which U.S. chicken leg quarters were an important component – approximately 8 percent, or $82 million.  Guatemala is the sixth largest export market for U.S. poultry.  U.S. poultry exporters had a 98 percent market share of all imports of chicken leg quarters into Guatemala in 2016.