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Pork exports totaled 264,657 metric tons (mt) in October, up 5% from a year ago, valued at $762.1 million (up 7%). Both volume and value were the largest since March, led by substantial growth in Mexico and year-over-year increases to Central America, Canada, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines.
January-October pork exports reached 2.43 million mt, just 2% below the record pace of 2024. Export value was also down 2% to $6.93 billion. The year-over-year difference is mostly due to a 20% decline in exports to China (which are mainly variety meats), where U.S. pork is subject to burdensome retaliatory duties.
October pork exports to Mexico totaled 123,058 mt, up 25% from a year ago and topping the previous record (April 2024) by 14%. Export value reached $289 million, up 33% year-over-year and exceeding the previous high (September 2025) by 11%. Through the first 10 months of 2025, shipments to Mexico were 7% above the previous year’s record pace at 1.01 million mt, while value climbed 11% to $2.33 billion.
With two months still to be reported, exports to Mexico already topped 1 million mt for the third consecutive year and $2 billion for the fourth straight year. But the U.S. industry faces a potential headwind in the year ahead, with Mexico opening an antidumping and anti-subsidy investigation on imports of U.S. hams and pork shoulders. USMEF is currently assisting exporters in responding to Mexico’s requests for information related to the investigation, as well as working closely with U.S. trade officials.
Led by gains in Honduras, Guatemala and Costa Rica, October pork exports to Central America climbed 19% year-over-year in volume (17,340 mt) and 26% in value ($59 million). Exports to both Honduras (6,085 mt, up 21%) and Guatemala (4,102 mt, up 35%) reached monthly records, while shipments to Costa Rica (2,358 mt, up 44%) were the second highest on record. January-October shipments to the region were 20% above the previous year’s record pace at 149,111 mt, and 23% higher in value at $481 million. With the exception of Belize, every country in Central America is among the top 15 global destinations for U.S. pork.
After slowing in the first half of 2025, pork exports to South Korea posted year-over-year gains for the fourth consecutive month in October, reaching 12,563 mt (up 12%), valued at $41.3 million (up 8%). January-October exports to Korea were down 6% from a year ago at 171,045 mt, while value ($553.1 million) fell 11% from the record pace of 2024.
Retaliatory duties weighed on U.S. pork exports throughout 2025. China’s total tariff on U.S. pork and most variety meat was 57% for much of last year (and prohibitively high at 172% in April-May), before being reduced to 47% in early November. Consumption has also weakened in China, while domestic production is record-large. For January through October, U.S. exports to China – the majority of which are pork variety meat – totaled 314,955 mt, down 20% from the same period in 2024 (when the total tariff rate was 37%), while value also declined 20% to $721.8 million.
January 9, 2026/ USMEF/ United States.
https://www.usmef.org
