The UK Government has recently announced two free trade agreements, the first with India and the second with the USA.

The deal with India was the first to be agreed by the Labour Government in Westminster. From our perspective, we believe this deal is balanced and considered, it upholds our high production standards and secures market access for our agri-food exports such as lamb, biscuits, whisky and gin. It also protects our sectors which would be susceptible to Indian imports produces to a lower standard by excluding certain products including sugar, pork and eggs.

Of particular interest to Welsh farmers will be access secured for exports of UK lamb to India, where the 33% tariff will be completely removed. The cuts to lamb tariffs will help secure greater access to the growing Indian market and heralds a win for the NFU and NFU Cymru, who lobbied UK Government on this issue. We now look to our levy body to maximise this prime opportunity for our high quality PGI Welsh Lamb.

The second deal with the USA isn’t as comprehensive but it represents the first step towards a larger deal that will be worked out in the weeks and months to come. This quick deal is about lowering the 25% tariff that President Trump has imposed on US imports of steel, aluminium and cars. In return for US concessions in these areas, the UK Government has opened our market to additional, but crucially limited, amounts of US beef and ethanol. The UK has also secured access for a ring-fenced volume of British beef to the US market.

Whilst we did not want to end up in the position – negotiating a deal against the backdrop of tariffs introduced by the US administration in April – we appreciate that the government has listened to our concerns, particularly on maintaining our high standards, protecting our more sensitive sectors and securing reciprocal access for our beef to the US market.

In Wales, we produce beef to some of the highest animal welfare and environmental standards in the world and this is a credit to farmers across the country. Our PGI Welsh Beef is second to none and by sourcing Welsh, consumers can be confident they are getting the best product possible for their money. This is why for several years, we’ve campaigned with the UK’s agricultural attachés in Washington for market access for Welsh and British beef.

That said, we know this deal with the US is the start not the end of a process. Our biggest concern is that agriculture has been singled out to shoulder the heavy burden of the removal of tariffs for other industries in the economy. This cannot continue in future negotiations.