Tariff Slash in the Philippines is a Win-Win for Everybody, Zieba Says
Bottom line: There’s a big opportunity for the U.S. pork industry in Asia. Maria Zieba, assistant vice president of international affairs for the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), told AgriTalk host Chip Flory that the recent announcement about the Philippines slashing tariffs on pork and increasing the quota of pork they import from the U.S. is a big moment for the pork industry.
“The Philippines is a market that traditionally consumes a lot of pork. Unfortunately, they've been dealing with African swine fever (ASF), and it's really decimated the local hog herd. They've had to take some drastic steps and reduce those tariffs and increase the quota,” Zieba said.
The Philippines has been a market the U.S. has been dependent on for a number of years, but Zieba said there has always been untapped potential because the domestic producers have been afraid of importing pork.
“We have a really high-quality product, and we have good cost of production. That makes us very competitive around the world where we can provide this high-quality pork that's very safe, and usually at a lower price point. I think that creates some tension with domestic producers as they face competition, but I think there's space for everybody in a market like this,” Zieba said. “These are really big markets with really big consumption of pork. I think that it's a win-win for everybody, especially the consumers of the Philippine pork.”
A Diversified Market
So, where does the Philippines fit into the marketplace? Zieba said the U.S. will definitely export a lot of frozen pork to the Philippines, but she also expects them to buy a lot of variety meats.
“We're looking at opportunities in both those spaces of frozen pork and variety meats. The positive about this announcement is that the tariffs were reduced for all pork products, frozen or chilled. That tariff reduction was from 30% to 5%, so it was a really big slash,” she added.
Southeast Asian markets like the Philippines and Vietnam provide great opportunities to diversify and export products are not in high demand in the U.S., ultimately resulting in more profitability to the producer.
ASF on the Global Pork Market
As parts of Asia and Europe continue to battle ASF, the export market continues to face disruption. The Philippines does not recognize regionalization in Germany and has closed off that export market, Zieba said.
“That’s where this opportunity comes into play,” she said. “We’ve picked up a little bit in China. It's certainly created a tremendous opportunity around the world for our product, just because we have those high health standards. Luckily, we are free of ASF and we’re doing everything we can to prevent ASF from reaching our shores.”
The need to prepare for foreign animal diseases and prevent foreign animal diseases from reaching U.S. shores is one of the key issues NPPC is highlighting to members of Congress during its Legislative Action Conference this week.
“This is an unfortunate situation that the Philippines is going through, and it's part of the reason why we have also partnered with university and the Philippine government on capacity building projects over the last few years so that we can learn more about ASF and also provide some assistance,” she added. “It was a very difficult decision for them to make, but they've really seen that decimation of their swine herd.”
Zieba said she’s excited about the announcement about the Philippines and urges lawmakers to sign a letter co-sponsored by Reps. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), Darin LaHood (R-Ill.), Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Jim Costa (D-Calif.) to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, seeking her support for enhanced Vietnamese market access for U.S. pork.
Read more:
Trade, Labor, Disease Top Issues at NPPC's Legislative Action Conference
