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Economist warns USMCA review could disrupt integrated North American pork industry

A livestock economist says the U.S., Mexican, and Canadian pork industries are tied closely together.

Speaking to Brownfield at last week’s World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Glynn Tonsor described the three countries as “truly integrated.”

“So on the live animal part of that, we have pigs flow across borders. (A simple example would be) early-weaned pigs flowing from Canada into the U.S. is not uncommon.”

He says there’s also integration on the meat side.

“And I’ll give a specific category: the U.S. ham production system is quite reliant on sending hams to Mexico. We disproportionately export more ham products than we do other parts of the animal.”

Tonsor says there’s increasing risk for U.S. pork producers ahead of the summer review of the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement because of potential trade disruptions.