Livestock Producers Address Concerns With House Agriculture Subcommittee

(WASHINGTON, DC) The U.S. pork industry faces numerous challenges both at home and abroad that, if not addressed, will pose significant harm to farms, rural communities and ultimately consumers. That’s the assessment from National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) President David Herring, from North Carolina, testifying before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture on Tuesday. “One of the most damaging threats to the U.S. pork industry has been the punitive, retaliatory trade tariffs that China and other countries have imposed,” Herring said. China is the largest consumer and importer of pork in the world, but U.S. hog farmers have been sidelined due to China’s 62 percent tariff on American pork, costing domestic producers $1 billion annually. Herring also called for expeditated negotiation of a trade agreement with Japan, where U.S. pork producers are losing market share due to new trade agreements Japan has formed with the European Union and TPP-11 nations.