The Impact of Domestic and Import Prices on U.S. Lamb Imports: A Production System Approach

As U.S. lamb imports increased relative to domestic production, and the relative share of chilled to frozen lamb imports increased, importers of chilled lamb have become less responsive to domestic and import prices, while the direct opposite is the case for frozen lamb imports. From 1990 to 2003, chilled lamb imports from Australia and New Zealand became less and less responsive to U.S. prices, and frozen imports became more responsive. Unconditional own-price elasticities also show that, over time, imports of chilled lamb became less responsive to import prices while frozen imports became more responsive to import prices.