Red ink flooded Chicago this week. The dairy markets suffered a deluge of data and news that invigorated the bears. The trade war heated up, while USDA highlighted abundance in its monthly Cold Storage report and at its annual Outlook Forum.
On Thursday, President Trump cleared up some confusion about the timing of a proposed 25% tariff on all U.S. imports from Canada and Mexico. He vowed on Truth Social that “the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will indeed, go into effect, as scheduled.” President Trump also announced another 10% tariff on Chinese imports, on top of a 10% tariff hike that took effect March 4, and tariffs ranging from 10% to 25% on many Chinese products implemented during the first Trump administration. China responded to the February 4 tariffs with targeted tax hikes that did not hit U.S. agriculture. Beijing is expected to retaliate with more tariffs next week, which has put U.S. crop and livestock markets on edge. Mexico and Canada rushed to make a show of cooperation with U.S. efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration, which won them a 30-day reprieve from the initial tariff threat. But this time around, retaliatory tariffs are reportedly on the table if the Trump tariffs take effect next week. That would not be good news for the U.S. dairy industry. The top markets for U.S. dairy exports are Mexico, China, and Canada.
By DairyBusiness News Team DP
March 3, 2025
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