Finance

Mexico is ready to hit back against Trump’s trade war by placing tariffs on pigs


Mexican authorities are ready to hit back against the tariffs imposed on the country by the Trump administration, and are preparing to impose significant levies on the import of pork products from the USA.

Reuters reported that Mexico will place a 20% tariff on US pork imports, which will apply to pork legs and shoulders from US suppliers. Those two cuts account for about 90% of the country’s $1.07 billion annual imports of pork from the USA.

“It’s a 20% [tariff] on legs and shoulders, fresh and frozen … with bones and without bones,” Heriberto Hernandez, president of Mexico’s leading pork producers association OPORPA said, according to Reuters.

Pork legs and shoulders are not as highly valued in the United States, where ribs and bacon are in greater demand, but in Mexico they are used to make some of the country’s most popular dishes, including tacos al pastor and carnitas.

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The proposed tariffs, which could come into effect as soon as Wednesday, comes in retaliation to those imposed by the Trump administration last week, which impact not only Mexico, but also Canada and the European Union.

Last Thursday, President Trump announced that the US would impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from three key US allies: Canada, Mexico, and the European Union. The move follows earlier metals tariffs on countries around the world.

Trump’s rationale behind imposing tariffs is to attempt to focus more business and manufacturing in the USA, by making importing goods prohibitively expensive.

Last week Mexico said that as well as placing a tariff on pork, it would impose “equivalent measures” on other US products — including flat steel, lamps, sausages and food preparations, apples, grapes, blueberries, various cheeses, and more.

“Mexico profoundly regrets and condemns the decision by the United States to impose these tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from Mexico,” a statement from the country’s economy minister said on Thursday last week

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Alongside Mexico’s condemnation, Trump’s tariffs were widely slammed by international leaders, with Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, labelling the move as “totally unacceptable” and an “affront to the thousands of Canadians who have fought and died alongside their American brothers in arms.”

European Council President Jean Claude Juncker called the tariffs “totally unacceptable.”

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