Although the pseudorabies virus incident in the U.S. has been resolved from a USDA standpoint, U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) President and CEO Dan Halstrom says the industry continues to face a $7 million-a-week opportunity that’s being lost.
“It’s urgent that we get Mexico relisted with full access for U.S. pork,” Halstrom says. “This situation is costing the U.S. industry millions of dollars per week and severely impacting customers in Mexico, who are scrambling to find alternative products and suppliers.”
Erin Borror, USMEF vice president of economic analysis, says the decline in exports in May and estimated for June is $46 million.
“We greatly appreciates Mexico’s full lifting of the restrictions on July 8 and look forward to a swift update by USDA to the FSIS Export Library,” she says. “Both the U.S. industry and the customers in Mexico who rely on these products, are desperate to resume trade.”
Bright Spots in May Pork Exports
He says May is a very good example of how the results could have been better if those issues were resolved. May exports of U.S. pork were higher year-over-year, volumes were significantly diminished by Mexico’s restrictions on pork offal items, according to data released by USDA and compiled by USMEF.
Despite these challenges, overall pork exports remain strong, he says. Here’s a recap of the May data:
- Pork exports totaled 245,874 metric tons (mt), up 10% from a year ago.
- Pork export value was up 8% to $701 million.
- Export value per head slaughtered topped $71.
Halstrom says it’s important to note that exports a year ago in May 2025 were unusually low due to heightened trade tensions with China, which temporarily pushed China’s tariff rate on U.S. pork as high as 172%.
“This impasse heavily impacted exports of pork variety meat, which totaled just over 30,000 mt in May 2025,” he says. “While pork variety meat exports exceeded 40,000 mt in May 2026, this was easily the lowest total of the year as January-April shipments averaged nearly 49,000 mt. May variety meat exports to Mexico were just 3,157 mt, down 80% from a year ago, due to restrictions imposed after the April 30 detection of pseudorabies virus antibodies in five boars in Iowa.”
He notes that some of the bright spots in May for U.S. pork included the largest shipments to Japan since 2021, an outstanding performance from Colombia and strong growth in Central America.
January to May Pork Export Performance
For January through May, pork and pork variety meat exports totaled 1.28 million mt, up 5% from a year ago, while value was also up 5% to $3.59 billion. In both volume and value, pork exports are less than 1% below the record pace established in 2024.
