Although the pork industry had a great year for exports in 2024, exporting over $8.6 billion in pork and pork products to over 100 countries, there’s no question producers are feeling the uncertainty of export opportunities right now.
As of March 12, the U.S. is facing retaliatory duties on U.S. pork to China, one of the top five countries for U.S. pork exports.
“They’ve put a 10% duty on in addition to the 25% that we already faced, so we’re looking at tariffs ranging from a minimum of 47% in order to export into that Chinese market,” Maria Zieba, vice president of government affairs for the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), said at National Pork Industry Forum. “There’s some exemptions being made, but unfortunately for us, we’re facing the international MFN rate, and then on top of that, the retaliatory duties of 25% for steel and aluminum, and then a 10% for IEEPA, or the fentanyl/immigration-related tariffs.”
At the moment, the U.S. does not have any retaliatory duties on its pork products, other than on China and the European Union, but the EU isn’t a big market for U.S. pork.
“There are trade actions that have moved forward and placed tariffs on our top five export markets (Mexico, Japan, China, Canada and South Korea). We’re awaiting to see what the response is,” Zieba says. “Obviously for NPPC and for U.S. pork producers, retaliation is very bad for our industry, and we hope countries and the administration will work towards finalizing agreements and ensuring that our products can continue to be exported and not face retaliatory duties.”
Zieba says this is a unique time in global history. NPPC just filed comments to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in response to the retaliatory duties comments that were due and set to take effect on April 2.
“We have a lot of ideas, and we’re continuing to work with USTR, because frankly, our industry faces a lot of barriers to trade,” she points out. “It’s not just on the tariff side, but also the technical and sanitary/phytosanitary issues that really block our ability to export or be competitive in certain markets. We’ve outlined those for the administration at USDA and USTR.”
Open More Doors in Vietnam
She adds that the No. 1 ask NPPC has for USTR is to have better market access into Vietnam.
“We have a large trade deficit with Vietnam, and they are also huge consumers of pork and pork products, like offal,” Zieba says.
Beyond that, Vietnam continues to struggle with African swine fever, so the U.S. has an opportunity to fill the void caused by this disease. She says that creates a unique opportunity for U.S. pork producers to be able to export, as long as the barriers to trade are eliminated.
A Level Playing Field
“What we’re asking for is to be treated the same way that the Europeans are treated, the Canadians are treated, the Russians are treated, and the story goes on and on and on, but with other countries,” Zieba says. “We just want a level playing field, and that’s what we’re going to be asking the administration to pursue for us.”
There is some uncertainly on how countries will react to tariffs being placed on their exports to the U.S.
“We are doing everything within our power to work with foreign countries to make the argument of why they should not retaliate on U.S. pork products,” Zieba says. “We’ve been a reliable source of high quality, affordable protein, and it’s completely within their power to assess those duties or not assess them. That’s the conversation that we will continue to have with the Mexicans, the Japanese, the Canadians, the South Koreans, the Australians and others. We need to keep markets open, and we need to be able to continue to export.”
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