Source:Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 11/9//17



As the fifth round of negotiations on changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement approaches, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.  

"We're talking with the administration and Congress about some mitigation efforts if that were to occur; about how we could protect our producers with that [farm] safety net based on prices that may respond negatively to any kind of NAFTA withdrawal," Perdue told reporters after a USDA ceremony honoring veterans, Politico reported. 

The fifth round of NAFTA negotiations is due to be held Nov. 17-21 in Mexico City.

Chicken

Meanwhile, Pilgrim’s Pride CEO Bill Lovette, on a conference call Wednesday after reporting strong third-quarter results, shrugged off fears of trade disruption for U.S. chicken exports to Mexico, even if NAFTA is dissolved. 

“Mexico and the U.S. are so inextricably linked that I don’t believe there’s going to be a significant impact, especially for chicken,” Lovette said. “We’ll find a way to keep chicken going across the border,” Bloomberg reported.

Pork

U.S. pork and beef exporters, however, have grave concerns over any changes in the favorable access they currently have to Mexico and Canada, top markets for both proteins.

Pork exports enjoy a zero tariff rate on pork traded in North America. Mexico is the second-largest market for U.S. pork and Canada is the fourth. Last year, the industry shipped almost $799 million of pork to Canada and nearly $1.4 billion to Mexico.

The National Pork Producers Council estimates those exports help support more than 16,000 U.S. jobs.  Pork exports contribute significantly to the bottom line of all U.S. pork producers, adding more than $50 to the value of each hog marketed in 2016, according to NPPC.

According to Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes, about 40 percent of U.S. pork exports and 15 percent of U.S. pork production go to Mexico and Canada.  

Beef

Since NAFTA was implemented in 1993, exports of U.S. beef to Mexico have grown by more than 750 percent, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation. Overall, exports now account for as much as 13 percent of overall U.S. beef production.

“Sparking a trade war with Canada, Mexico and Asia will only lead to higher prices for American-produced beef in those markets and put our American producers at a much steeper competitive disadvantage,” National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Tracy Brunner said in January, after President Trump withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and announced plans to withdraw from or renegotiate NAFTA. “The fact remains that 96 percent of the world’s consumers live outside the United States, and expanding access to those consumers is the single best thing we can do to help American cattle-producing families be more successful.”

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