Lean hog futures fall on Trump tariff news - CME
Cattle futures also sag on the news
4 February 2025
2 minute read
By: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) cattle futures took a dive on Monday following an order by US President Donald Trump to place 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10% tariffs on goods from China, reported Reuters. Lean hogs also sagged on the news.
Analysts have warned that tariffs could spark retaliation and trade wars with impacted countries, hurting overseas demand for US agricultural products.
Cattle remained negative despite a mid-morning announcement that tariffs on Mexico would be delayed by a month. An agreement to pause Canadian tariffs for 30 days was also announced after the close.
The feeder and live cattle markets were overbought prior to the executive orders on Saturday, said Cassie Fish, analyst and author of the Beef newsletter, and are now experiencing a technical reversal.
When the tariff news hit, it triggered investors to liquidate their long positions, Fish said.
Most-active CME April live cattle futures settled down 2.150 cents to 200.150 cents per pound after reaching their lowest point since Jan. 23. CME March feeder cattle lost 5.225 cents to end at 270.500 cents per pound, its lowest since Jan. 22.
The most-active CME April lean hog contract ended down 4 cents at 86.35 cents per pound, hitting its lowest level since Jan. 23.
The cattle markets faced additional pressure as Mexico's agriculture minister said on Saturday that the US had signed memorandums permitting the resumption of Mexican cattle imports.
A temporary US ban on Mexican cattle shipments after the discovery of New World screwworm in Mexico has been in place since November.
But, said Fish, cattle drew support from a strong cash cattle trade, as well as firming boxed beef.
USDA reported choice cuts of boxed beef up $4.31 on Monday afternoon to $331.99 per hundredweight (cwt). Select cuts were up $2.77 to $319.84 per cwt.
