The United States has reached agreement with Hong Kong for the reopening of Hong Kong's market to US boneless beef from cattle younger than 30 months.

With the Hong Kong agreement, the United States has recovered 74% of its beef export market that closed down after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was found in December 2003 in an older US cow imported from Canada.
The agreement follows a December 11 announcement by the Agriculture Department that the United States and Japan agreed to reopen Japanese markets to imports of US beef.

In 2003, Hong Kong was the fifth largest market for US beef products.