International Egg and Poultry Review: US

US - This is a weekly report by the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), looking at international developments concerning the poultry industry. This week's review looks at US paws and paw exports.
calendar icon 3 November 2010
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The US shipped a total of 189,468 metric tons (MT) of paws and feet from January to August in 2010, which is about 43 per cent lower than a year ago at this time (329,776MT). Typically, the US ships most of its chicken paws and feet to China and Hong Kong, which comprised about 98 per cent of total US paw and feet exports in 2009.

In the first eight months of 2010, the US shipped about 93 per cent of its paw and feet exports to Hong Kong and China compared with 98 per cent in 2009. Over this period, US paw and feet exports increased to Hong Kong (+180 per cent), Viet Nam (+287 per cent), and to Greece (+445 per cent) with decreases noted into the Philippines (-5 per cent) and Japan (-14 per cent) from a year ago.

The decline in total US paw exports and to China can be attributed to China’s response to long standing issues between both countries (i.e. Section 272 of the US Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, the value of the Chinese Yuan, protectionism claims, and US duties levied on Chinese-made low-end tires, steel pipes, movies, and books). In February 2010, China imposed anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing (CVD) import duties on US poultry. In addition, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled in favor of China regarding China’s anti-dumping case against the US filed on 17 April 2009. According to the final determination recently made by China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) these duties are expected to continue into 2011.

Chicken paws account for about 50 to 60 per cent of China's total poultry imports. In 2010, Brazil became China's primary supplier of chicken paws followed by Chile and Argentina. In 2009, Brazil did not export any paws to China. As a result of the AD and CVD duties, US poultry imports to China have declined significantly helping to bolster prices and demand for locally produced Chinese poultry despite high feed costs. Total Chinese broiler meat imports, excluding paws, are projected to be 22 per cent lower in 2010 and 14 per cent lower in 2011.
Source: Department of Commerce, US Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Statistics/USDA FAS/World Trade Organization/news wires










Percentage of US Paw Exports by Volume
Note: All data is January-December except for 2010*, which only includes exports from January-August. Source: AliceWeb Mercosul

Further Reading

- You can view the full report by clicking here.
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