US could restrict Mexican livestock imports over screwworm worry, official says

Washington | Reuters — President Donald Trump’s administration warned on Saturday that it’ll limit livestock imports from Mexico if that nation’s authorities doesn’t intensify its struggle towards a harmful pest referred to as New World screwworm.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins in a letter Saturday to her Mexican counterpart stated that she “will limit the importation of animal commodities” if these points should not resolved by Wednesday.

Why it issues: A case of screwworm in Mexico late final 12 months led the U.S. Division of Agriculture to quickly ban imports of Mexican cattle.

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Rollins’ letter, which she posted on the social media web site X, stated Mexico had restricted one of many corporations employed to conduct aerial spraying to eradicate the pest to flying solely six days per week and had imposed “burdensome customs duties” on components wanted to maintain its planes within the air.

Her risk comes towards the backdrop of a world commerce struggle launched by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has ratcheted up tariffs on Mexico and different buying and selling companions.

Screwworm can infest livestock, wildlife and in uncommon circumstances, folks. Maggots from screwworm flies burrow into the pores and skin of dwelling animals, inflicting severe and infrequently deadly injury.

Earlier than screwworm’s discovery, Mexico had been the U.S.’s largest provider of cattle. Final month, the U.S. imported 24,000 head of cattle from Mexico, down from about 114,000 a 12 months earlier, in response to the U.S. Division of Agriculture.

The U.S. blocked Mexican livestock shipments in late November after the pest was found. It lifted that restriction in February primarily based on new protocols for assessing the well being of animals earlier than they enter the nation.

Rollins’ letter was first reported by Fox Information.

— Reporting by Brad Heath