A GLOBAL safeguard investigation into imports of lamb into the United States has been initiated after pressure from the American sheep industry.

The United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has bowed to pressure from the American Sheep Industry Association and others to request that the US International Trade Commission conduct the investigation under Sections 201 and 202 of the Trade Act of 1974.

The USTR’s recommendation to the trade commission followed an ASI safeguard petition, filed October 30, 2025, on behalf of its 42 state associations and more than 100,000 US sheep farms and ranches.

ASI said the USTR’s decision draws directly on the market data, import trend analysis, and documented financial injury that ASI submitted as part of that petition.

ASI said its case is grounded in data. US lamb imports grew from 213.6 million pounds in 2020 to 309.3 million pounds in 2024, a nearly 45 percent increase, the association said. By 2024, imports captured roughly 70 percent of the domestic market.

ASI said imported lamb was sold at prices averaging 10.8 percent below domestic product, with some pricing gaps approaching 19.5pc. Those disparities have displaced U.S. production, eroded profitability, and put American sheep operations at serious risk, the association said.

ASI executive director Mike Michener said ASI appreciated the leadership of the US Trade Representative’s Office in recognizing the serious challenges facing America’s sheep producers and taking this important step forward.

“A healthy U.S. sheep industry supports rural communities, strengthens domestic supply chains, and helps ensure the United States retains the capacity to produce high-quality American lamb here at home.

“This action also helps protect America’s domestic food supply at a time of growing global uncertainty.”

ASI president Ben Lehfeldt said: “It has been through the hard work of ASI state member leaders, ASI Legislative Action Council, ASI staff, and sheep producers throughout the country that we reach this point.”

R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard also welcomed the USTR action.

“For far too long, imports have been undercutting our domestic sheep industry, and producers have been exiting the industry at an alarming rate, hollowing out rural communities, especially in the west.”

R-CALF USA has been running its ‘Protect American Lamb’ initiative to protect the US industry from unlimited lower-cost imports and has been urging the US Government to initiate safeguard measure to protect US producers.

Are imports causing ‘serious injury’?

In his letter to the ITC, Mr Greer asked ITC chairman David Johanson to determine whether lamb is being imported into the US in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury, or the threat thereof, to the domestic industry producing like or directly competitive products.

The USTR’s request defined lamb as fresh, chilled or frozen meat, but live lambs and meat from mature sheep (mutton) has been excluded.

Mr Greer’s letter said US import statistics indicate lamb imports sourced in major quantities from several countries have increased in recent years.

“Available information suggest that these imports resulted in domestic industry lost sales, revenues, and market share as imported lamb meat significantly undersold the domestic like product.

“Moreover, recent information suggests that firms have exited the domestic industry entirely, and there have been domestic industry losses, decreased capacity utilisation rates, and struggles to maintain profitability.”

The ASI campaign involved working directly with Congressional offices to build a bipartisan case, supported by ‘Dear Colleague’ letters filed in the US House and Senate in January 2026. ASI thanked Representative Celeste Maloy and the late Representative Doug LaMalfa for their leadership on the House letter, and Senator Steve Daines for leading the Senate push.

ASI developed the petition with legal counsel Kelley Drye and Warren LLP and economists at Georgetown Economic Services LLC. The resulting public and confidential reports gave USTR a comprehensive record of the injury domestic producers have sustained, ASI said.

ASI said the ITC will now collect testimony and data from all interested parties, hold a public hearing, and determine whether increased lamb imports are a substantial cause of serious injury to the domestic industry. Under the statutory timeline, the ITC typically issues its determination within 120 days of receiving the petition, the association said. If an affirmative ruling is found, the ITC must recommend a remedy to the president, such as tariffs or quotas.

Australian lamb and mutton is currently subject to a 10pc tariff into the US, but the American sheep industry has previously proposed a 30 pc tariff be introduced on all Australian and New Zealand sheep products.