May 20

5/20 - On Friday, the U.S. finally reached a deal with Canada and Mexico to lift U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, while also confirming Canada and Mexico would remove tariffs on a wide range of U.S. goods, including pork and cheese. Despite tariffs, Canada and Mexico still bought over 40% of U.S. pork exports in 2018, however American producers were forced to drop prices to overcome competition from Brazil and the EU. Hog futures responded last week, jumping by 10% from $83.55/cwt to $92.38. Separately, Japan agreed to lift restrictions on American beef exports. Japan has barred imports of U.S. beef over 30 months old since 2005 in response to the outbreak of mad cow disease. The U.S. Meat Export Federation estimates that expanded access could increase U.S. beef sales to Japan by 7-to-10%. Cattle futures recovered from $109.75/cwt to $111.28 last week.