US pork industry backs up Trump's trade agenda
The administration recently updated agreements with Canada and Mexico and with South Korea that maintained the U.S. pork industry’s zero-tariff access to those important markets, three of the top five destinations for U.S. pork exports.
“We’ve got the momentum on trade headed in the right direction now,” said NPPC President Jim Heimerl, a pork producer from Johnstown, Ohio. “Producers are hurting because of retaliatory tariffs on pork, which were prompted by the administration’s efforts to realign U.S. trade policy. But producers have been patient, and now that patience is starting to pay off, particularly if we get a trade deal with Japan.”
NPPC has been calling out to the Trump administration to begin trade talks with countries in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region, beginning with Japan, the U.S. pork industry’s No. 1 export market. It also has called for deals with the Philippines and Vietnam.
The NPPC also added that it is backing up trade negotiations with the UK, provided that the country is willing to eliminate all non-tariff barriers and embrace U.N. food-safety standards and other international standards.
“NPPC will not support a deal with the U.K. unless it agrees to equivalence, meaning that all USDA-approved pork and pork products must be eligible for export to the U.K. without additional requirements,” Heimerl said.
And while the organization is open to trade negotiations with the U.K., it is skeptical about EU intentions.
“The EU has played the United States like a drum in the past,” said Heimerl. “This must stop. We expect the Trump administration to require the EU to eliminate all tariff and non-tariff barriers to U.S. pork so we can export with no additional requirements.”
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