Special Report

Economist says pork tariffs won’t have immediate impact

Pork producers are understandably concerned about the import tariffs on pork imposed by China and Mexico. But livestock economist Steve Meyer of Kerns and Associates says it’s not the “Armageddon” scenario some have portrayed it to be.

“We don’t think the Chinese thing is still a very big deal—and the real reason is that we weren’t going to be doing a lot of business with them anyway,” Meyer says. “They’ve got a lot of pigs, their prices are low, and we just don’t think there’s going to be anything there.”

Likewise for the Mexican tariffs, he says.

“It’s still likely that we’re going to be the low-cost supplier of hams to Mexico, even with the tariff. Especially the 10 percent tariff—the 20 percent tariff is a little more iffy,” Meyer says. “But it’s so emblematic of a larger concern over the NAFTA. That is a big deal and we need to get that reconciled.

“This is not unimportant, don’t get me wrong. But it still leaves us in a position where we can rectify this thing and go on with good business relationships if the people in the White House that are making these decisions decide to do so.”

Meyer spoke with Brownfield at World Pork Expo in Des Moines.

AUDIO: Steve Meyer