The European feed industry faces steep cost hikes and supply shortages as US tariffs and EU countermeasures threaten key feed ingredients. FEFAC demands urgent exemptions to protect feed security.

The European Compound Feed Manufacturers’ Federation (FEFAC) has voiced alarm over the escalating tariff dispute between the US and EU, which could severely disrupt feed supply chains. Following Washington’s imposition of 20% tariffs on all EU agri-food exports, Brussels has proposed retaliatory measures targeting critical US feed imports, including soybeans, lysine, maize co-products, coccidiostats, and probiotics.

FEFAC President Pedro Cordero

FEFAC President Pedro Cordero urged both sides “to open direct negotiations, seeking to exempt all agri-food products including essential feed ingredients from both US reciprocal and EU counter tariff schedules to safeguard global food security and resilience of the AgriFood value chain.”

He stressed the EU’s dependency on US feed inputs: “Currently, the EU imports up to 6 million tons of soybeans from the US, accounting for 44% of all the imports of soybeans to the EU with an estimated value of 3 billion euros for which there is no direct substitution from alternative origins”.

FEFAC estimates that the combined impact of tariffs, EUDR compliance, and antidumping duties on lysine could raise feed supply costs by €4–5 billion annually. Additional procurement costs for soy alone may reach €2 billion. The organization also emphasized the strategic importance of continued access to US maize, corn gluten feed, and DDGS.

FEFAC represents 22 national feed associations and its members produce nearly a quarter of the EU's animal feed.