Beef and pork trade with Mexico and Peru expanded by USDA

Done in an effort to remove barriers and explore more trade for ranchers

By Diego Flammini, Farms.com

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced that American beef and pork producers will now have access to more markets in Peru and Mexico.

"Our priority at USDA is not only to open or reopen markets for our producers, but to help drive U.S. economic growth through trade by supporting and creating American jobs on and off the farm," said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in a press release. "Mexico is an important market for U.S. cattle producers, with the potential to import $15 million of live U.S. cattle per year and we expect Peru's market could generate $5 million annually in additional pork sales."

The agreement between Mexico and is effective immediately and as a result, slaughter cattle can be exported to Mexico for the first time in a decade. Since 2008 the USDA and Mexico have been working together to reopen these trade channels and with the help of USDA Under Secretary Ed Avalos and Enrique Sanchez-Crus with SAGARPA, they’ve done so.

Peru’s Servicio National De Sanidad Argaria (SENASA) and the USDA have been working together since 2012 to get American exporters a larger area of access for fresh, chilled pork and pork products. The USDA will update their export requirements to ensure everyone is on the same page.

"More than one million people go to work every day thanks to exports of American-grown products,” said Vilsack. “Expanded U.S. agricultural exports mean more new jobs, but our farmers and ranchers will miss out on new markets for American products if Congress doesn't act on Trade Promotion Authority early this year and if we don't continue to build support for a Trans-Pacific Partnership with Asian nations.”

Join the conversation and tell us if this will impact the amount of cattle or pork you keep on your farm. Do these new developments make you want to increase your production?