U.S. Pork Industry Losing $1.5 Billion to Trade Disputes

(WASHINGTON, DC) The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) is calling for an end to a trade dispute that has cost U.S. pork producers an estimated $1.5 billion this year. According to Iowa State University Economist Dermot Hayes, live hog values this year have been reduced by $12 per animal due to retaliatory tariffs imposed in June by Mexico. The loss estimate of $1.5 billion is based on an expected total harvest of 125 million hogs in 2018. The tariffs, along with China’s retaliatory tariffs, have turned what promised to be a profitable year into a year of losses for export-dependent U.S. pork producers. Hayes estimates U.S. pork producer losses of $1 billion, or $8 per animal, from the ongoing trade dispute with China. Mexico and China represent approximately 40 percent of total U.S. pork exports.