Evaluating the Consequences of Imports on a Local Value Chain: The Case of Danish Pig Meat Exports to the Australian Market

Abstract

Imports of pig meat into Australia have grown rapidly in recent years and now total around 150Kt pa (shipped weight). A recurring question is whether these trends have harmed the domestic pig industry and, if so, to the degree sufficient to warrant safeguard action under WTO regulations. While the Productivity Commission regularly examines the aggregate data to test this hypothesis, in this paper we investigate the value system that coordinates the imports of Danish pig meat into the Australian pig meat market, and we seek to identify which parameters impact this value system.