ABSTRACT
The authentic foundation of Argentina's victory in the British beef trade was that between 1900 and 1913 Great Britain experienced no substantial growth, either in domestic meat production or imports. The striking feature of the Anglo-Argentine meat trade was the high degree of vertical integration. In June 1913 after the price convention collapsed, the Argentine government was informed by Reginald Tower that some action was expected to check a North American monopoly of the meat trade. Australia proved vulnerable to Argentine competition in meat, partly because of the high degree of instability from various causes in the Australian trade. Most meat shipped from Argentina was the property of the packing plants, which had their own offices in London, their own depots and cold stores, and, in the British-controlled trade, even their own retail outlets. Certain groups in Argentina undoubtedly recognized the potential of the meat export trade.
