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Almost 1000 export registrations set to lapse

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China not responding to US government renewal requests

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$5 billion in US meat exports to China at risk

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Potential meat export snag comes amid renewed Sino-US

trade spat

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Stricter checks at Shanghai port raise costs for US meat

exporters

By Tom Polansek, Mei Mei Chu and Laurie Chen

CHICAGO/BEIJING, March 14 (Reuters) - Hundreds of U.S.

meat plants granted access to China in a 2020 "Phase 1" trade

deal with President Donald Trump are set to lose export

eligibility on Sunday, threatening roughly $5 billion in trade

to the world's largest meat market amid a renewed trade war.

Losing access to China would deal a fresh blow to American

farmers after Beijing earlier this month imposed retaliatory

tariffs on some $21 billion worth of American agricultural

goods, including 10% duties on U.S. pork, beef and dairy

imports.

Beijing requires food exporters to register with customs to

sell in China. Registrations for almost 1,000 beef, pork and

poultry plants, including some owned by Tyson Foods and

Cargill Inc, are set to expire on Sunday, according to

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) records and Chinese

customs data. That's roughly two-thirds of all those registered.

The companies declined to comment or did not respond to

Reuters questions.

China has not responded to repeated requests from U.S.

agencies to renew plant registrations, the USDA said in a report

last week, potentially violating an obligation under the Phase 1

deal.

Registrations for some 84 plants lapsed in February and

while shipments from affected plants continue to clear customs,

the industry doesn't know for how long China will allow imports.

"The risk involved in shipping product with a looming

expiration date is high," Joe Schuele, spokesperson for the U.S.

Meat Export Federation told Reuters.

"The situation is certainly dire if [registrations for]

these plants are not renewed. The situation has the attention of

every exporter."

The USDA has made the expirations a priority issue in

discussions with Beijing, Schuele added.

Shanghai port has also imposed stricter inspections and

documentation for U.S. meat cargoes, the Federation told members

in a bulletin seen by Reuters, with some containers subject to

full unpacking and inspection, raising processing time and

additional fees.

To be sure, there are no signs to suggest that Beijing is

imposing a blanket ban. Several hundred plants have had their

registrations renewed until 2028 or 2029, according to a senior

diplomat based in Beijing.

The U.S. was China's third largest meat supplier last year

after Brazil and Argentina, accounting for 590,000 tons or 9% of

total imports.

The USDA and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did

not respond to questions from Reuters on Thursday. China's

Commerce Ministry and customs department did not respond to

faxed questions.

China's foreign ministry redirected questions to other

agencies without naming any.

The "Phase 1" trade deal, signed in 2020, ended the first

U.S.-China trade war with a pledge from Beijing to boost its

purchases of U.S. goods and services, including meat, by $200

billion over two years. China didn't reach the target, which was

agreed shortly before the pandemic hit.

That year, 1,124 beef, poultry and pork processing plants or

logistic facilities were registered with Chinese customs for

export, according to USDA, gaining access to the world's largest

meat importer. There are 1,842 facilities certified today, but

slightly less than half will remain if Sunday's batch of

registrations lapse.

China is obligated under the Phase 1 deal to revise its

approved plant list within 20 days of receiving updated lists

from USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, according to the

Meat Institute, an industry group for U.S. meat processors. It

is unclear whether the current delays constitute a violation of

the deal.

The potential impact from lapsed licenses could total up to

$4.13 billion for the beef industry and $1.3 billion for pork,

the U.S. Meat Export Federation said in a daily bulletin.

Loss of access to China would be an especially hard blow for

exporters of parts like chicken feet and pork offal, which are

consumed less domestically.