Today Mexico imposes tariffs on imports of U.S. pork products in retaliation for the failure of the United States to honor its obligations under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
The tariffs on a small group of products from pork to pistachios is in response to the failure of the U.S. government to allow Mexican trucks to haul goods into the United States, the American Meat Institute has reported.
The tariff rate on ham and shoulder cuts is 5%. The tariff on cooked skin pellets is 20%.
A NAFTA dispute-settlement panel ruled in February 2001 that the practice of excluding Mexican trucks violated U.S. obligations under the trade accord. The ruling provided 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 part of that earlier retaliation list.
The American Meat Institute, along with a large number of organizations and businesses, has been urging the Obama Administration and Congress to resolve the trucking dispute between the two nations.
