China halted imports of U.S. beef in 2003 after a case of mad cow disease was found in Washington state. Ten months later, a U.S. trade official said resumption of beef trade with China “may be imminent.” In 2006, China announced it would allow some boneless beef products, though a resumption of imports ultimately never happened.
Now, an industry group is predicting that China, the world’s biggest importer of U.S. agricultural goods, will open its market fully by the middle of this year.
