With almost one of five pounds of chicken being exported, a robust and expanding overseas market is critically important to the economic health and well-being of the U.S. chicken industry. Importantly, chicken exports consist largely of leg quarters and other back-of-bird parts. Unlike North American consumers who overwhelmingly prefer breast meat, world consumers greatly prefer dark meat. This circumstance means that exports are very necessary to achieve a better balance of supply and demand for all parts of the chicken. A wide variety of non-tariff trade barriers and issues, usually not based on good science, confront U.S. chicken exporters as they work diligently to build their business.
Here are selected issue papers, reports, and interesting articles that provide insights and ideas about the opportunities and challenges for U.S. chicken exports.
