Good news came for beef producers in the May 7 announcement that President Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have settled on an agreement-in-principle designed to enhance trade between the U.S. and the United Kingdom (UK).
A first of its kind, the U.S. and the UK expect the U.S.-UK Economic Prosperity Deal (EPD) to grow the quality and volume of mutually beneficial trade and job opportunities between the countries, to remove barriers to make it easier for American and British businesses to operate, invest and trade in both countries; and to ensure that this partnership is fair, reciprocal, future-facing and built on a shared vision of the challenges facing both economies, the White House said in a release.
Where Does Pork Fit In?
Although no details have been published on pork yet, U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) President and CEO Dan Halstrom says he is hopeful pork is not only part of the agreement, but that non-tarriff issues would be addressed as well.
He sees significant potential for U.S. pork exports to the UK, but tariff and non-tariff barriers for pork must be removed as well.
“They’re a large user of pork in the UK,” Halstrom explains. “They have large exports currently from the EU into the UK, and we know that there’s legitimate demand for U.S. pork into the UK as well as the EU.”
He admits pork has some of the same complicating factors regarding restrictions on the technical side.
Missouri pork producer Scott Hays says when it comes to trade, “There’s a lot of opportunity around the world.”
Currently, the U.S. pork industry trades with 100 countries around the world and most of that goes to the 20 countries the U.S. has free trade agreements with, Hays said on AgDay TV.
“We’re looking forward to some positive movement on trade but we’re a little bit nervous about the short-term effect of what’s going on,” he says.
After enduring incredibly challenging economic times in 2023 and 2024, Hays says the industry needs time to heal.
“We dug some big holes and we’ve got to fill the holes before we can start growing operations or doing something different,” Hays explains.
At first, he thought 2025 looked like it was going to be that opportunity for producers.
“The futures market was very positive, the numbers looked like they were lining up, trade had been good and so a lot of opportunity out there,” Hays says. “Our hopes got watered down a little bit but at the same time we’re optimistic long term. We just got to get there.”
During the May 9 episode of The PORK Podcast, National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) vice president of government affairs Maria C. Zieba said NPPC’s No. 1 priority is to help producers have economic sustainability.
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