Mexican pork producers await delayed ruling on US pork imports
Mexico has yet to issue a preliminary ruling in its antidumping and countervailing-duty investigation into US pork legs and shoulders. OPORMEX says the decision was due in May and that import prices in 2024 and 2025 were 32% below Mexican pork prices.
Preliminary decision remains pending
Mexican pork producers are waiting for the Ministry of Economy to publish its preliminary decision in an antidumping and countervailing-duty investigation into imports of pork legs and shoulders from the United States. José Luis Pérez, president of the Mexican Pork Producers Organization, or OPORMEX, said the ruling should have been released in May. As of August 31, it had not been made public.
The inquiry is examining whether US pork entered Mexico at prices below its fair value and whether the shipments benefited from subsidies. Pérez told El Universal that import prices in 2024 and 2025 were 32% lower than the commercial prices of Mexican pork. That comparison is central to the domestic industry’s allegation that imported meat has depressed producer prices and damaged profitability.
Investigation covers legs and shoulders
Mexico formally opened the proceeding on December 15, 2025, through a resolution published in the country’s Official Gazette. The case applies to pork legs and shoulders originating in the United States, regardless of the country from which the goods are shipped. The investigation was requested by Mexican producers including Alimentos Kowi, Alimentos Soles, Comercializadora Porcícola, Proteína Animal and Sonora Agropecuaria, while OPORMEX joined as a supporting party.
Government records show that the Ministry of Economy gathered information on Mexican slaughtering, cutting and deboning operations, production volumes, domestic and export sales, and installed capacity. The review covered federally inspected facilities as well as municipal and private slaughterhouses. These data are intended to establish the condition of the domestic industry and determine whether imports caused material injury alongside any finding of dumping or subsidies.
USMCA work may be contributing to delay
Pérez said OPORMEX believes the ministry’s work on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement may have reduced the time available for the pork case. Mexico and the United States held a formal round of talks on the agreement’s review on May 28-29. The producer group acknowledged the complexity of that work but said it did not remove the urgency of a preliminary ruling.
The eventual decision matters to producers and meat buyers on both sides of the border. A preliminary finding could clarify whether provisional trade remedies will apply while the investigation continues. It could also alter purchasing decisions by Mexican processors, distributors and retailers that use US legs and shoulders, although no measure has been announced. Until the ministry publishes its findings, existing participants face uncertainty over future costs and supply terms.
Mexican producers argue that larger volumes of lower-priced imports reduce the prices paid at the farm or slaughterhouse level without necessarily producing equivalent savings for consumers. US suppliers, meanwhile, must assess the risk that access conditions could change during a broader period of bilateral trade negotiations. The pending ruling will determine whether the authorities find sufficient preliminary evidence to advance the domestic industry’s claims; it will not by itself conclude the full investigation.
