The pork industry is celebrating the one-year anniversary of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) with increased U.S. exports in the first quarter of 2021 in both Canada and Mexico.
“The Canadian and Mexican markets have been extremely important for our U.S. pork exports and producers,” says Maria Zieba, assistant vice president of international affairs for the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC). “Thanks to USMCA, U.S. pork maintains zero import duties into both the Canadian and Mexican markets. In the first quarter of 2021, we saw our exports increase versus that same time period a year ago.”
Under the previous agreement, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), U.S. meat and poultry exports to Mexico and Canada flourished as import duties were dropped and non-scientific barriers to trade were significantly reduced.
“Having USMCA go into effect after the renegotiation of NAFTA was a big win for our producers because it maintained that reliability. It signaled to the Canadians and Mexicans that we would continue to be a reliable source of pork,” Zieba adds.
Despite the pandemic’s impact on hotels, restaurants and tourism around the world, Zieba sees tremendous opportunity ahead for exports in Mexico and Canada.
Expanding Market Access
In addition to maintaining current market access in countries like Mexico and Canada, Zieba says NPPC is also focused on expanding access to other regions.
“We’re really looking at Southeast Asia, and better market access into markets like Vietnam, which is a huge consumer of pork,” she explains. “Unfortunately, Vietnam has African swine fever, so there is a huge demand for safe, reliable and affordable pork. But we have some major tariffs into that market, and we’re not part of a free trade agreement. We’re working to get better access to lower those duties.”
Another country NPPC has been working to secure better access is the Philippines. On April 7, the Philippine government announced it will provide more market access for pork imports to combat rising pork prices and stabilize supplies.
“We’re very happy that they’re lowering their duties and increasing the quota. That’s something we worked on for a number of years and the Philippine government came through. We’re excited to see our exports increase into that market, it’s also positive for Filipinos who have struggled to contain ASF and have seen pork prices skyrocket,” Zieba says.
Don’t Forget China
The U.S. pork industry continues to face strong headwinds in China with a collective 33% import tariff that’s still in effect, Zieba says.
“Originally, the tariff was up to 72%, while our competitors were paying much lower tariff prices,” she notes. “That’s been reduced, but we’re still at a disadvantage. Our competitors are shipping their products at 8% and we are at 33%.”
The U.S. pork industry is seeking better market access in a number of countries, Zieba says. She credits USDA and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai for their efforts.
“It’s always a little difficult during a transition, because there are so many new players,” Zieba says. “But to USTR and USDA’s credit, they really hit the ground running. We are having many conversations with them on all these new markets that we’re pursuing. These things just take time, but we’re working really hard on behalf of our producers.”
With exports making up over 25% of U.S. pork production, she says it’s important to develop greater market access.
During the “USMCA at One” event hosted by the Wilson Center on June 30, Tai said, “This important milestone offers us an opportunity to reflect on the importance of our partnership and commit to advancing a positive economic agenda that lifts up workers and communities in all of our countries. I believe that USMCA provides us with a framework to advance that agenda.”
USMCA now includes the strongest labor and environmental standards in any agreement ever, a new labor-specific enforcement mechanism and critical changes to intellectual property provisions designed to increase access to affordable medicine for regular people, Tai shared at the event with Mexico’s Secretary of Economy Tatiana Clouthier and Canada’s Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade Mary Ng.
“The USMCA also allows us to revisit parts of the agreement to ensure that it remains relevant as the economy and our world evolves,” Tai noted. “We should also celebrate the USMCA because of what it represents: a renewed commitment by our three countries to pursue negotiations that raise standards and create a race to the top.”
More from Farm Journal’s PORK:
