Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 7/2/18


The U.S. agricultural industry is now formally on the receiving end of tariffs on a variety of fronts, even as President Trump said he will wait until after the November midterm elections to sign any new form of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Canadian tariffs affecting more than $12.6 billion worth of U.S. goods launched this weekend and 10-percent tariffs that Mexico imposed on unprocessed pork last month will jump to 20 percent on July 5.

The NAFTA partners imposed the tariffs in response to U.S.-imposed taxes announced in May on imports of steel and aluminum, angering the nation’s closest trading partners as well as the European Union, Japan and China. In addition to U.S. steel and aluminum products, Canada’s list of tariffs affects U.S. beef exports and scores of other food products.

Meanwhile, voters in Mexico – which is the U.S. pork industry’s largest export market according to the National Pork Producers Council – over the weekend elected leftist leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as its new president. He is expected to push back against U.S. tariffs, but reportedly has expressed a desire to preserve NAFTA, which has been under renegotiation since early 2017.

Prospects for a new NAFTA agreement remain stalled as President Trump told Fox Newsthis weekend he is “not happy” with the revised proposal and doesn’t want to sign any new pact until after November’s midterm elections.

“I want to make it more fair,” Trump said on the broadcast. He also has called for additional tariffs on China and imported cars, which would potentially harm automakers and economies in Europe, Japan and South Korea.

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