August 27, 2010

 

US pork hit by Mexican retaliatory tariffs

Millions of dollars in new tariffs imposed by Mexico on US ham and other pork following Mexico's expansion of its NAFTA retaliation list have dealt a blow to the US pork industry.

 

National Pork Producers Council Vice President and Counsel for International Affairs Nick Giordano said US refusal to allow long-haul Mexican trucks into the country under NAFTA now means Mexico will strike back with US pork exports.

 

"Our most popular item is unprocessed ham that is now being assessed a 5% tariff, it previously was zero under NAFTA," Giordano said. Cooked skins, or pork rinds, a smaller product but important to some sectors of the industry, have a high duty of 20%, he added.

 

Rind is a small piece of US pork sales of US$760 million in Mexico last year. But the 5% duty on unprocessed ham is against more than half of all US sales to Mexico. Doing the math, US pork for sale in Mexico will be with almost US$25 million in new duties.

 

Giordano said it is no coincidence the Mexicans are targeting US pork and other sensitive products right before a key US election.

 

"I think from their vantage point, putting sectors like pork and apples on the revised list, is evidence of their desire to get some groups who have some political punch in the US on the list," he added.