US pork tariff relief is needed in the market of Vietnam

The Biden administration recently issued a fact sheet announcing advances in U.S.-Vietnam trade relations. One of the items included in the announcement was Vietnam’s "positive consideration" of a U.S. proposal to eliminate or reduce Most Favored Nation (MFN) import duties on pork, corn and wheat products. The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) is awaiting further details on the status of this proposal, but the announcement underscores the fact that tariff relief for U.S. pork is much-needed in the price-sensitive Vietnamese market. Even before African swine fever (ASF) was confirmed in Vietnam in early 2019, the U.S. pork industry saw strong growth potential in this emerging market. Though largely self-sufficient in pork production, Vietnam's growing middle class and rapidly growing foodservice and retail sectors presented intriguing opportunities for U.S. pork. The U.S. pork industry was poised to benefit from significant market access gains in Vietnam through the Trans-Pacific ...