Mexico added pork to the list of U.S. products against which it is retaliating for the failure of the United States to live up to its obligations under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to let Mexican trucks haul goods into the United States, according to several meat industry sources.
The tariff rate on ham and shoulder cuts is 5 percent and will become effective August 19, 2010. The tariff on cooked skin pellets is 20 percent, also effective August 19.
In February 2001, a NAFTA dispute-settlement panel ruled that excluding Mexican trucks violated U.S. obligations under the trade deal. The ruling gave Mexico the right to retaliate against U.S. products, which it did in March 2009, placing higher tariffs on more than $2.4 billion of U.S. goods. Pork was not included on that initial retaliation list.
The American Meat Institute, along with a multitude of organizations and businesses, has been urging the Obama Administration and Congress to resolve the trucking dispute between the two nations.
Source: American Meat Institute