With U.S. repeal of country-of-origin labels (COOL) for beef and pork, a notable increase in shipments of Canadian hogs is forecast by USDA economists. “Imports of Canadian live swine are expected to increase about 9 percent, from 5.6 million head in 2015 to 6.2 million head this year,” says the Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook.
The monthly report says a decline in Canadian hog numbers and strong demand by packers in western Canada for hogs will preclude a surge in imports. The strong U.S. dollar, worth C$1.40, “enhances the competitiveness of Canadian hogs in the United States,” says the USDA.
Congress repealed mandatory COOL at the end of 2015 to avert a threatened $1 billion in retaliatory tariffs by Canada and Mexico on U.S. manufactured and agricultural goods. The WTO ruled in May of last year that COOL unfairly discouraged imports of livestock from Canada and Mexico because meatpackers had to document the origin of every package of beef and pork. COOL required each package to say where the meat was born, raised and slaughtered.