Competitiveness of the Polish meat industry against selected European Union countries within the framework of transatlantic trade

The aim of the paper was to assess the competitive capacity of the Polish meat industry in trade with the US in relation to major EU producers of meat and meat preparations. Referring both to the growth and trade theories in research on international competitiveness and based on the methodological approach proposed by Wijnands, van der Meulen and Poppe (2006) to estimate the competitive capacity of the meat industry in the analysed countries the study used a set of economic and trade indicators appropriately adapted to the requirements of the analysis of bilateral relations. The indexes based on the market and trade shares included shares in exports to the target market and indexes of relative trade advantage, while the applied economic indexes included the real value added and its share in the total value added of the food industry and real labour productivity. The time frame for the analyses covered the years 2007-2016. The study is based on data from the European Statistical Office (Eurostat). Summing up the analyses it may be stated that in the years 2007-2016 the competitive position of the Polish meat industry in trade with the US in comparison to the leading EU producers of meat and meat preparations was strengthened both thanks to an improved trade position (measured by the share in the EU exports to the US market and relative trade advantages) as well as economic indicators connected with an increase importance of the analysed sector in the generation of real value added of the food industry and labour productivity.