Source: National Pork Producers Council (NPPC)

Des Moines, IA — NPPC submitted comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on unfair trade practices and harm from non-reciprocal trade arrangements of other countries. USTR is reviewing foreign impediments to trade under President Trump’s America First Trade Policy and memorandum on reciprocal trade and tariffs.

To view their comments click here.

NPPC provided a list of 20 countries plus the European Union, detailing their significant barriers to U.S. pork exports. Among them:

โ€ข Australia – Prohibits U.S. fresh and bone-in pork products over unfounded fears of Porcine Reproductive Respiratory Syndrome.

โ€ข China – Facility registrations for establishments and unclear processes for renewal of registration.

โ€ข EU – Requires onerous and unnecessary testing of meat imports.

โ€ข Panama – Requires facility registration for establishments that store, display, distribute, or sell meat and meat products.

โ€ข South Africa – Bans pork offal, heat-treated/canned products, and casings and requires lymph nodes to be removed from shoulder cuts.

โ€ข Taiwan – Requires country-of-origin labeling for pork.

NPPC’s take: NPPC continues to advocate for comprehensive trade agreements that eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers to U.S. pork exports and will work with USTR and other U.S. trade officials to open new and expand existing markets to U.S. pork.

Why it matters: U.S. pork exports support more than 155,000 U.S. jobs. In any given year, the U.S. pork industry ships product to more than 100 countries, and those exports contribute significantly to the bottom line of all U.S. pork producers. In 2024, the U.S. pork industry exported 3 million metric tons of pork valued at over $8.6 billion, an amount that added the equivalent of more than $66 of value for each hog marketed. But U.S. pork exports face various tariff and non-tariff barriers in markets around the world. As a low-cost, high-quality provider of protein, significant growth in pork exports can be achieved by removing such impediments.