Capital Update – For the Week Ending March 28, 2025

Consider Alternative to Port Entry Fees for Chinese Ships, Coalition Urges USTR

What happened: NPPC joined over 300 agriculture and business organizations in asking the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to “refrain from imposing” port entry fees for all Chinese-built or flagged ships.

USTR proposed the fees after an investigation of China’s dominance of the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sector – requested by five national labor unions – found the country’s subsidies and policies have enabled the Asian nation to capture more than 50% of the global shipbuilding market. China builds 83% of the big ships and container ships in the world, according to the Agriculture Transportation Coalition, which sent a letter last week to USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer, urging that USTR consider “alternative and more effective measures.”

The World Shipping Council said the fees, which could be up to $1.5 million per port entry, likely would reduce the competitiveness of U.S. exports, raise prices for U.S. consumers, and divert port traffic to Canada and Mexico.

USTR held a public hearing on the proposed fees March 24 and 26 in Washington, DC.

NPPC’s take: In separate comments it filed with USTR, NPPC voiced its opposition to the port entry fees. It said the fees would “substantially drive up the cost of our goods, disrupt our supply chains, and negatively impact U.S. pork’s ability to compete in global markets.” They would “exacerbate existing challenges within the U.S. pork industry and threaten the jobs and livelihoods of those who depend on it.”

NPPC asked USTR to consider “targeted solutions” encouraging investment in domestic shipbuilding and strengthening U.S. ports while protecting America’s farmers and ranchers.

Why it matters: The U.S. pork industry depends on exports, which annually account for about a quarter of all sales and contribute significantly to every producer’s bottom line. Last year, the industry exported more than $8.6 billion of pork to more than 100 foreign destinations. About 60% of those exports were transported by ocean freight.

Hogs and Pigs Report Shows Slight Decrease in Total Inventory

What happened: The U.S. Department of Agriculture last Thursday issued its quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report for the three months covering Dec. 1, 2024, to March 1, 2025, showing a slightly lower swine herd year-over-year and nearly a 1% decrease in the sow herd.

Quarterly farrowings for December through February also were down by 1% from the same period a year ago, and farrowing intentions for March through May 2025 also were down. The average pigs saved per litter was up to 11.65 for the December 2024-February 2025 compared with 11.53 last year, a 1% increase.

Why it matters: The quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report presents information on market and breeding inventories farrowings, productivity, and farrowing intentions for the U.S. swine industry and can help producers better understand the outlook for U.S. hog supply and pork production in the months ahead.

NPPC Weighs in on Strategic Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance

What happened: NPPC submitted comments on the proposed 2026-2030 Strategic Plan for the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System. NARMS is a collaborative partnership with state and local public health departments, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture that tracks antimicrobial susceptibility among foodborne enteric bacteria from humans, retail meats, and food animals.

NPPC said the long-standing objectives of NARMS are appropriate and supportable and recommended the program return to its original scope and remain focused on foodborne antimicrobial resistance. NARMS objectives include:

• Monitoring trends in antimicrobial resistance among enteric bacteria from humans, retail meats, and food animals at the time of slaughter.
• Disseminating timely information on antimicrobial resistance in pathogenic and commensal microorganisms to stakeholders in the U.S. and abroad to promote interventions that reduce resistance among foodborne bacteria.
• Conducting research to better understand the emergence, persistence, and spread of antimicrobial resistance.
• Providing timely antimicrobial resistance data for outbreak investigations.
• Providing data that help FDA in making decisions related to the approval of safe and effective antimicrobial drugs for animals.

NPPC’s take: NPPC strongly supports antimicrobial stewardship and the production of safe, wholesome protein for consumers. It said the NARMS program needs to promote the progress that has been made in the pork industry from veterinary and producer interventions that have reduced the incidents of antimicrobial resistance.

Under the previous strategic plan, NARMS sought to expand its One Health approach, which recognizes that the health of people is closely connected to the health of animals and the shared environment. But that had the program taking a haphazard approach to collecting and testing disparate samples under various pilot projects, diluting its focus on food safety. NPPC instead supports the NARMS program returning to its original scope of focusing on food safety.

Legislation Calls for New Recommendations for Dietary Guidelines

What happened: Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) introduced legislation that would allow the Trump administration to develop new dietary guidelines that improve the health of Americans using evidence-based nutritional information.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which inform all federal nutrition programs, including school breakfast and lunch, and provide dietary recommendations used by health professionals, are updated by the departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services every five years based on recommendations from an advisory committee.

Among its recommendations for the 2025 guidelines, the advisory committee said Americans should reduce and replace red meat with plant-based proteins.

In introducing the “Dietary Guidelines Reform Act of 2025,” Jackson said the Biden administration weaponized the guidelines to “push a partisan agenda instead of sound nutritional science.”

“The Dietary Guidelines Reform Act brings much-needed transparency and scientific integrity to the dietary guidelines process, restores public trust, and aims for healthier outcomes by ensuring the recommendations truly serve the American people,” added Marshall.

NPPC’s take: NPPC opposes the advisory committee’s recommendation on meat, noting that “[t]here has been no scientific justification for reducing red meat and replacing it with plant-based proteins. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans need to reflect nutrition science and continue to recommend animal-based protein such as red meat as a critical part of the American diet.”

NPPC will work with the Trump administration to ensure the Dietary Guidelines best serve the health and nutrition interests of the American public.