U.S. pork begs for tariff exemption from Canada

A national U.S. pork organization is lobbying the Canadian federal government to drop its tariffs on the U.S. pork industry.

According to a blog entry on the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) website, the NPPC has written to Canada’s Department of Finance, noting that “tit-for-tat tariff exchanges” will disrupt supply chains built between the two countries over decades.

“We request that Canada seeks to preserve the benefits of the integrated North American market to the maximum extent practicable, including by excluding U.S. pork imports from retaliation,” read the missive.

U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods, including agriculture, have been the flashpoint of a trade war between the two long-time trading partner nations. Canada has imposed retaliatory tariffs on a range of U.S. products, with more promised if the U.S. doesn’t back down.

The council pointed out that the U.S. exported more than US$850 million of pork to Canada in 2024, while Canada sent US$1.7 billion of pork stateside.

“Additionally, Canada exported more than USD$560 million worth of live swine to the United States last year, primarily to U.S. finishing and slaughter facilities where they were comingled with U.S. swine, and much of the pork was later exported back to Canada.”

The blog entry touched on the American trade deficit with Canada — a figure U.S. President Donald Trump has cited as part of his reasoning for tariffs against Canadian goods. Current 25 per cent tariffs, of which products complaint with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement were made exempt from until April 2, following several days of back-and-forth tariff drama in early March, were linked by the White House to border and drug traffic.

“Trump has pledged to impose the tariffs on Canada – and China and Mexico – as a way to reduce the flow of illegal immigration and fentanyl into the United States, as well as to address an (US)$80 billion trade deficit with Canada,” the NPPC statement reads.

However, Trump’s trade deficit figure has varied considerably over the months since his election. According to CBC News, he pegged it at USD$100 billion U.S. in December, with the stated number jumping to USD$200 billion in February.

Tags: export, pork, Canada, U.S., live swine, Mexico, tariffs