The US Meat Export Federation was among the 50 ag companies and organizations that recently visited Morocco during a trade mission hosted by the US Department of Agriculture. Foreign Agricultural Service Administrator Daniel Whitley led the delegation, which participated in business-to-business meetings, met with Moroccan government officials, studied transportation logistics and visited retail and foodservice outlets in Casablanca. USMEF Africa Representatives Matt Copeland and Monty Brown and USMEF Director of Trade Analysis Jessica Spreitzer participated in the trade mission, with funding support provided by USDA’s Regional Agricultural Promotion Program.

Morocco has a free trade agreement in place with the US and is the second largest export market for US agriculture in Africa. A key distribution hub for the continent and especially western Africa, Morocco will co-host the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal.

Morocco is a major market for live cattle imports, but beef imports are minimal. Imports are primarily from Spain and Brazil, along with some U.S. beef livers. But with Morocco in a severe, six-year drought, the government is opening the market to more red meat suppliers to ameliorate inflation.

“Morocco is a promising market and its free trade agreement with the U.S. could fuel momentum in a broader region of Africa,” said Copeland. “But there are trade barriers to overcome, including technical ones. The major challenge now for U.S. exporters relates to financial risks on containers arriving in Morocco. There are no financial mitigations in place for exporters to receive payment after containers arrive, which adds tremendous risk to any transaction.”

While the market for high-quality beef in Morocco is largely untapped and the US now has duty-free access for Choice and Prime cuts, Copeland noted that modern retail holds a very small share of the market, and the cold chain infrastructure is in early stages of development. 

Morocco is the sixth largest export market for US beef livers in 2024, as the volume through October totaled 856 mt. Through the US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement, US Choice and Prime beef cuts and some standard beef HS codes enter duty-free. But other standard beef HS codes, including livers, remain subject to a tariff-rate quota that increases by 2% per year. The quota volume is 2,692 mt for 2025, indicating room for further growth in US beef liver exports.  

Spain is the top imported beef supplier to Morocco at 1,928 mt of frozen, boneless cuts from Jan.-Sept. 2024. Brazil is the other main beef supplier, with frozen beef imports at 1,464 mt through September.  An additional challenge for US suppliers is Morocco’s recent announcement of a 20,000-mt duty-free quota for the import of Brazilian beef, lamb, goat and camelid meat.

“Droughts have contributed to escalating feed costs. Domestic beef production is suffering from inflated costs and prices are rising for consumers,” said Copeland. “While this duty-free quota for Brazil negates the benefit we have from our free trade agreement with Morocco, our hope is that inflationary pressures will lessen, and Morocco will not renew this annual agreement with Brazil.”

Source: US Meat Export Federation