One Big Beautiful Bill Act provides wins for U.S. pork amid export challenges
Depending on where one sits, President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) was indeed truly beautiful or really ugly.
No piece of legislation is perfect for everyone, and no one gets everything they want, but the National Pork Producers Council lauds the OBBBA for delivering on some of the industry’s priorities.
Wins for the industry
Protecting the nation’s food supply and keeping the swine herd healthy are at risk when one speaks of the potential of foreign animal diseases (FAD) reaching the U.S.
Resources to prevent FADs such as the National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank, the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program and the National Veterinary Stockpile were preserved in the final bill Trump signed into law.
While FADs continue to be a concern, another risk looms domestically, as the feral swine population continues to spread across the nation.
This legislation maintains resources for the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program established in the 2018 Farm Bill. Feral swine continue to wreak havoc on agriculture, ecosystems and human and animal health.
Studies have put the costs of damage caused by feral hogs at $2.5 billion annually, but according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, efforts to curb the feral swine population have protected crop revenue to the tune of $40.2 billion. Since 2014, 12 states have eradicated feral swine.
Once the health of the U.S. swine herd has been secured, maintaining and expanding demand for the nation’s pork supply is a necessary part of the equation, and this legislation maintains funding for the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development Program.
Both programs build export markets for U.S. pork and other agricultural products. The OBBBA also funds $285 million for a new Supplemental Agricultural Trade Promotion Program to support critical market access.
Tariffs hit red meat
In these times of the moving targets of tariffs, U.S. red meat exports are lower as a result.
According to the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), May exports of pork and beef were lower, largely due to declines in destination China.
As spelled out by USMEF President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Halstrom, China’s total tariff rate on U.S. pork peaked at 172 percent in April and early May, and the rate for beef was 147 percent.
May exports totaled 224,162 metric tons of pork, down 11 percent from a year ago, and value fell 10 percent to $646.5 million. These are the lowest monthly totals since September 2023.
Bright spots for pork exports were Mexico, Central America and Colombia, which showed year-over-year growth, and destination Cuba saw record-large shipments.
Even with those gains, China remains the wildcard for U.S. pork and, in a statement, Halstrom stresses the importance of developing other markets.
“The situation with China obviously had a severe impact on May exports, underscoring the importance of diversification and further development of alternative markets,” Halstrom says. “The need for progress in the U.S.-China trade negotiations is extremely urgent because tariffs could soar again on Aug. 12. This deadline is already impacting exporters’ decisions about whether to continue producing for the Chinese market. On the bright side, amid all of this uncertainty, demand for U.S. red meat remains robust in many key regions.”
The U.S. hog industry and pork trade have a lot of moving parts that could turn what’s big and beautiful today into a big ugly tomorrow.
Kevin Schulz is the editor of The Farmer. This article was originally published by The Farmer on July 14.
