For Immediate Release
By: R-CALF USA Marketing Director Jaiden Moreland
Contact: R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard
Phone: 406-252-2516; r-calfusa@r-calfusa.com
WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2025 — Last week, at the third annual U.S.-Mexico Policy Summit in Washington, D.C., R-CALF USA warned that a trade imbalance with Mexico is crushing independent ranchers and weakening America’s food security.
R-CALF USA Property Rights Chair Shad Sullivan represented American independent ranchers on a panel focused on cross-border agricultural challenges. Moderated by America First Policy Institute (AFPI) Director of Rural Policy Tate Bennett, the discussion also included Kip Tom, AFPI vice chair of rural policy and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agencies, and Peter Laudeman, U.S. Department of Agriculture senior policy advisor for trade and foreign agricultural affairs.
The invitation-only summit, hosted by AFPI, the Heritage Foundation, Texas Public Policy Foundation and Patria Unida, brought together prominent U.S. and Mexican officials and policy leaders to address U.S.-Mexico relations and the upcoming United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) review.
Sullivan said Mexico’s failure to manage its agricultural sector and ongoing animal health threats, such as the spread of New World screwworm (NWS), continue to create serious challenges for U.S. producers.
“It was an honor to be invited and to represent America’s independent ranchers on this panel,” Sullivan said. “Both the U.S. and Mexico must reclaim their sovereignty from global corporate capture. Mexico must also end cartel-influenced policies that have resulted in near-insurmountable trade barriers and prolonged border closures to livestock trade.”
In his remarks, Sullivan also highlighted the damages U.S. producers have suffered for decades under one-sided free trade policies and the importance of restoring trustworthy trade relationships.
To illustrate the problem, R-CALF USA released volume-based and value-based charts using USDA trade data showing that since 1990, the United States has grown increasingly dependent on Mexican cattle and beef. Today, imports from Mexico outpace exports by more than 3-to-1, leaving U.S. ranchers unfairly competing against a flood of cheaper foreign cattle and beef.
According to R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard, this imbalance stems from failed trade policies exemplified by the North American Free Trade Agreement and USMCA, which opened the door for a surge of imports that packers exploited to substitute domestic cattle with cheaper Mexican beef and cattle. Bullard noted the problem has been made worse by industry consolidation and the 2015 repeal of mandatory country of origin labeling (MCOOL), which stripped U.S. ranchers of the ability to differentiate their product while allowing imported beef to be sold under a U.S. label.
Bullard also warned that while the U.S. officially imports live cattle only from Mexico and Canada, there are concerns that cattle are being smuggled up through South America and laundered across the border as Mexican cattle. R-CALF USA has called for investigations into this practice. If cattle are being smuggled, he said, U.S. producers are not only competing against Mexican cattle imports but also against illegal cattle that undermine markets and biosecurity.
The recent halt of Mexican live cattle imports due to NWS, and the attendant industry outcry claiming the U.S. needs those cattle, Bullard said, demonstrates the U.S. has become far too dependent on foreign countries for such an important protein staple as beef.
“For American ranchers, this growing trade deficit is a barrier to rebuilding and expanding the domestic cattle herd, attracting new entrants, and is threatening the long-term survival of our industry,” Bullard said, adding, “For more than 30 years, imports have steadily outpaced exports, undermining the profitability of independent cattle producers and putting American producers last. Until we hold Mexico accountable, rebalance trade with tariffs, and restore key policies like MCOOL, we will continue sacrificing U.S. ranchers’ livelihoods and our nation’s food security to foreign supply chains.”
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Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) is the largest producer-only lobbying and trade association representing U.S. cattle and sheep producers. It is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle and sheep industries. Visit www.r-calfusa.com or call 406-252-2516 for more information.