By Dr. Andrew Griffith
The question that has been repeated several times this past week is what impact will the opening of the Mexico border to cattle coming into the United States have on the domestic cattle market. The simple announcement of the Mexican border reopening has already had its impact as the news was received negatively by futures market traders. Thus, whether animals cross the border or not, some of the impact has already been experienced.
Going a little further with the discussion, it is unlikely large quantities of cattle will begin crossing the border in the near term. There are fairly rigorous health protocols that must be met for cattle to enter the United States. There will certainly be cattle that do not meet those requirements as some producers in Mexico probably did not maintain all the requirements. On the other hand, operations on the Southern border who depend on Mexican cattle will benefit greatly from cattle being imported.
In short, there should not be drastic change in the domestic market due to the border reopening.
Source : osu.edu