Mexico

Last week, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that an agreement had been reached to allow U.S. potatoes into the Mexican market no later than May 15th. National Potato Council CEO Kam Quarles said while the news is good, no one is holding their breathe right now ...

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack met with his counterpart in Mexico Tuesday and announced the opening of Mexico to U.S. potato exports by May 15th. A Department of Agriculture statement said they met to continue cooperation on shared priorities, including open trade, science-based policy-making, and sustainable and climate-smart agricultural production ...

The U.S. dairy industry is expressing its pleasure with legislation currently moving through Congress that looks to address supply chain disruptions. Supporters of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act say the bill would ensure that carriers are not refusing to load products that were already contracted to travel to Asia ...

Smithfield Foods announced this week cash and in-kind donations totaling $2 million to crisis relief efforts aiding the citizens of Ukraine and those seeking refuge in surrounding areas. Smithfield will expand ongoing refugee relocation and aid assistance underway through its operations in Central Europe with $250,000 donations to each the Global Red Cross Network, Mercy Chefs, Save the Children

Last week several Northwest lawmakers called on the USDA to press its counterparts in Mexico for that country to honor and expedite the U.S.-Mexico trade deal. That deal restores U.S. fresh potato exports to all of Mexico, rather that just locations near the border with the United States ...

The vaccine mandate for H-2A foreign guest workers went into effect January 22nd but will it make getting workers more difficult this year? Dan Fazio, director of the Washington Farm Labor Association, says the system they put into place last year should keep everything running smoothly ...

U.S. Agriculture posted its highest annual export levels ever recorded in 2021. The final 2021 trade data published by the Department of Commerce Tuesday shows that exports of U.S. farm and food products totaled $177 billion. The total beat the 2020 figure by 18% and eclipsed the previous record set in 2014, by 14 ...

According to ERS, despite trade limits, Mexico remains the most significant sugar exporter to the United States. Before 2008, Mexico provided a negligible share of U.S. sugar imports but has since become the largest supplier. Mexico’s increasing contribution to the U.S. su ...

New data from Economic Research Service shows retaliatory tariffs reduced U.S. ag exports annually by $13.2 billion. Specifically, the research points to six trading partners, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Mexico, and Turkey, that announced retaliatory tariffs affecting agriculture and food products in 2018 ...

Tariffs imposed on American agricultural exports in retaliation for Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from key trading partners cost the U.S. farm sector a great deal in exports. Combine that with the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports and China’s retaliatory actions, and it led to an overall $27 billion reduction in U.S. ag ...