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NPPC leader concerned about Trump’s border threat

The National Pork Producers Council is concerned about President Trump’s threat to shut down the Mexican border.
NPPC spokesman Jim Monroe tells Brownfield, “Cutting off trade entirely would be catastrophic.”

He says producers are already feeling the impact of strained trade relations with Mexico, where the U.S. sold nearly 1.5 billion dollars worth of pork last year. “That’s one of our largest export markets and what we really need to happen is have the metal tariffs lifted so that the retaliatory tariffs on U.S. pork are removed and then we can return to zero-tariff trade.”

Trump told reporters in Florida two large caravans of refugees from Guatemala are walking through Mexico, and Mexico is refusing to stop them. “If they don’t stop them, we’re closing the border. They’ll close it, and we’ll keep it closed for a long time. I’m not playing games.”

U.S. corn, beef, and dairy products also rely on the Mexican market and would be impacted by a border shutdown.