(NAFB.com) – The American Sheep Industry Association has formally requested the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office initiate a global safeguard investigation into U.S. imports of lamb meat under the Trade Act of 1974. ASI submitted the request on behalf of its 42 state associations and more than 100,000 farms and ranches. The action seeks federal intervention to address the serious economic injury that imported lamb products are inflicting on American sheep producers. Imported lamb, often sold below domestic market prices, is displacing U.S. production, eroding profitability, and threatening the long-term viability of the domestic industry. Findings from an ASI study show that U.S. lamb imports surged from 213.6 million pounds in 2020 to 309.3 million pounds in 2024, an almost 45 percent increase. It’s caused the U.S. producers’ market share to decline by more than nine percentage points. Chief Agriculture Negotiator nominee Julie Callahan acknowledged during recent Congressional testimony that “imported lamb is undercutting U.S. producers.”