An Empirical Examination of U.S. Lamb-Related Import and Domestic Market Relationships near the Farmgate

Abstract

This paper formulates, estimates, and simulates a vector autoregression model of the joint U.S. lamb and wool production subsectors at the farmgate, in order to empirically address a number of policy-relevant questions that are highly debated and which have served as grounds for numerous trade investigations by the U.S. International Trade Commission and the Department of Commerce. Such debated issues include, among others: (1) the degree to which increasing U.S. lamb imports influence the U.S. industry, (2) the nature of the joint relationship among U.S. lamb meat and wool production, (3) the degree to which U.S.-produced lamb quantities and prices interact and (4) the degree to which the primarily frozen and smaller-cut imported lamb products and the primarily fresh and larger-cut domestically produced products are treated as substitutes In the United States.