DENVER — The Government of Mexico extended zero-duty treatment of certain food imports, including pork, beef and poultry, from all eligible suppliers through the end of 2024, according to a report from the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF).
Mexico first suspended the import duties in May 2022 in an effort to combat rising food prices. At the time, Mexico planned the suspension to end after 12 months, but it was later extended through the end of 2023 — and now through 2024.
“Similar to the US, inflation in general has been coming down, so we kind of had a sense that (Mexico) may go ahead and let that temporary tariff exemption expire at the end of 2023,” said Erin Borror, vice president of economic analysis at USMEF. “But they extended it again through the end of 2024, and so now it’s kind of become a longer-term policy.”
Mexico is the leading destination for US pork exports, with US and Canadian pork having duty-free access to Mexico through the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
“The US and Canada are at zero duty through NAFTA and USMCA, so the zero tariff benefits were really going, on the pork side, to Europe, and then with Brazil beginning shipments in February of 2023, Brazil was also benefiting,” Borror noted.
Brazil exports increased above 5,000 tonnes a month. However, Brazil’s market share came to halt in late November 2023 when a court case resulted in the suspension of Brazilian pork entering Mexico. The court found deficiencies in Brazil’s implementation of Mexico’s sanitary requirements. While it is likely temporary, the suspension remains in place, USMEF said.
Borror added that while Brazilian pork was entering the Mexican market, US market share increased, with Brazilian pork mainly displacing imports from Canada and the European Union.
“Ninety percent of our exports are chilled and difficult for Brazil to compete head on,” Borror said. “So, our share of total exports of pork to Mexico actually increased from the prior two years to 84%.”
