Threats of retaliatory tariffs prompted by Trump have cost Iowa pork industry $560M

Trump is bringing this nation onto the brink of total isolation from allies and rouge nations alike. This threat of import tariff is quickly driving a wedge between friendly nations and China our arch-rival. The pork industry losses is just the tip of a US disaster that will send our economy into unknown territory

Iowa pork producers could take another hit if Mexico follows through on its threat to impose a 20 percent tariff on hams and pork shoulders from the U.S.

Producers in the state already face a 25 percent tariff on pork exports to China. But duties from Mexico — the largest export market for American pork by volume — could put further strain on producers.

Iowa is the largest pork producer in the U.S., according to Gregg Hora, the president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association. Hora told the Register that the threatened tariffs are “potentially devastating news for Iowa’s pig farmers and the rural Iowa economy.”

While the possible tariffs from Mexico would hurt U.S. pork producers, it would ultimately drive down the cost to consumers, the Register reported.

The tariff threats from Mexico came after President Trump announced Thursday that the U.S. would impose steep duties on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union (EU). Those markets had initially been exempted from the tariffs when they were first announced in March. But Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that trade talks had not advanced far enough to warrant a continued exemption.

In turn, Canada, Mexico and the EU proposed a series of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, ranging from blue jeans, to bourbon and yogurt.

Canada and the EU have also brought cases against the U.S. at the World Trade Organization.