U.S. Imposes 50% Tariffs on Canadian Goods; Mexico Lifts Pseudorabies Ban on U.S. Pork Offal

The White House has announced that the United States will impose new 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian goods entering the U.S. The tariffs will apply to products including alcohol, dairy, automobiles, seeds, floriculture products, flower bulbs, lumber, and animal products. The administration says the tariffs are intended to pressure Canada over what it describes as discriminatory treatment of U.S. exports. Among the concerns cited by the White House are Canada's decision to remove U.S. alcohol products from store shelves and giving the European Union preferential market access.

Mexico has removed all pseudorabies related restrictions on U.S. pork offal products. U.S. Meat Export Federation Vice President of Economic Analysis, Erin Borer explains that the move opens up trade not only for new production but also for pipeline products that had been backed up while the restrictions were in place.

“It had been a really tremendous impact on the trade when you think about products like skins and jowls, snouts, stomachs, tongues, hearts, and also any head items, critically important items for the Mexican industry that relies on the U.S. as their dominant supplier of these products, but also obviously critically important for the U.S. industry, where Mexico is our number two variety meat market, second only to China.”

The restrictions cost the U.S. industry an estimated $6 to $7 million each week in lost exports.