U.S. Cattle-Import Stops Over Screwworm Leave Mexico With $2 Billion Shortfall

Closures persisted despite a new export protocol, with border surveillance in northern Mexico reporting no detections.

Overview

The head of Mexico’s National Agricultural Council estimates the 2025 revenue hit at roughly $2 billion tied to U.S. restrictions on live-cattle imports.
Exports to the United States fell from a typical near 1.2 million head to about 200,000 this year, with January–October receipts down 76% to $335 million.
U.S. authorities halted Mexican cattle imports three times within a year over screwworm risk despite a Dec. 12 protocol aligned with OMSA and U.S. federal rules.
Mexico’s SENASICA reports cases confined to the south and says more than 300 traps along the northern border returned negative results in export zones.
Industry leaders and a former agriculture secretary argue the unilateral stops lift U.S. meat prices and burden producers while control capacity for sterile-fly releases remains limited.