| Colombia negotiated bilateral Trade Agreements (TAs) with the United States and with the MERCOSUR region (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay). Colombian cattle and beef interest groups argue that TAs hurt the local beef supply chain. We employ a partial equilibrium framework to assess the impact of these TAs on the welfare of cattle producers, beef marketers and meat consumers in Colombia. Our results suggest that with free imports of chicken parts from the U.S, beef consumption and retail prices of beef both decrease and the derived demand and prices of fed cattle decrease. With beef imports from the MERCOSUR region, domestic beef prices and beef production fall, but total beef consumption increases. Overall, consumers are better off and there are... |
