Trade barriers take growing toll on pork exports

Retaliatory tariffs imposed by China and Mexico caused declines in U.S. pork exports to steepen in November, according to USDA statistics compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). November pork exports totaled 206,852 metric tons, down 8 percent year over year, while value fell 12 percent to $538.7 million. For January through November, exports were steady with 2017’s record pace at 2.23 million metric tons, and value was down 1 percent to $5.86 billion.USMEF’s September data, by comparison, showed pork export volume down 2 percent from September 2017 and export value falling 7 percent.