Washington, DC — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he had a private meeting late Monday afternoon with Mexico’s ambassador to the US.
Grassley says he and Ambassador Esteban Moctezuma Barragán focused on trade issues between our two countries, which included discussion of deadly threats to livestock and humans from a tiny parasite. Grassley says the Mexicans are also concerned about exports of a certain vegetable.
Almost all of Mexico’s tomato exports come to the US, and the Trump administration plans to end the trade agreement that allows Mexican tomatoes into the US duty-free. Starting in July, the US Commerce Department says tomatoes from south of the border will face a tariff of nearly 21 percent.
The looming changes worry Mexican growers, Grassley says, as tomato exports to the US generated more than a billion dollars in revenue in 2023. Grassley says there’s rising concern about parasitic screwworms coming into the US on livestock from Mexico. A release from the USDA says New World screwworms are deadly flies that lay eggs in open wounds. Once the larva hatches, it attacks living flesh and can be extremely deadly for livestock, pets, wildlife, and even humans.
The US has halted all imports of live cattle, horses, and bison from Mexico, a ban USDA officials say will be reviewed on a month-to-month basis. US Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins said on social media Monday: “The last time this devastating pest invaded America, it took 30 years for our cattle industry to recover. This cannot happen again.”
