Former regional head of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, Julio Berdegue, who will head the Mexico’s agriculture ministry in the incoming government , poses for a photo during an interview with Reuters, in Mexico City, Mexico June 28, 2024. REUTERS/Paola Garcia/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

MEXICO CITY, Oct 23 (Reuters) – Mexico’s agriculture minister will travel to Washington next week with the aim of reaching an agreement on the reopening of the border to Mexican cattle amid an outbreak of the flesh-eating screwworm parasite, President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday.

Mexican Agriculture Minister Julio Berdegue will meet with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins to discuss plans for the border, which the U.S. has kept closed to Mexican cattle imports since May.

“We hope he can return with an agreement on the border opening,” Sheinbaum said in her regular press conference.

The screwworm, a pest that burrows into the flesh of warm-blooded animals, often killing livestock if left untreated, has moved northward through Central America since late last year and deep into Mexico, straining relations with the United States, Mexico’s biggest trading partner, and rattling the livestock sectors of both countries.

Rollins has publicly criticized Mexico’s response to the outbreak. Mexico confirmed its first cases of screwworm infections in animals in the state of Nuevo Leon, which borders the U.S., in recent weeks but has said they were contained and resolved.

Meanwhile, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is urging U.S. cattle ranchers to lower beef prices while several agencies announced an effort to rebuild the country’s decimated cattle herd. The White House also said on Thursday that Trump is quadrupling the country’s low-tariff imports of Argentine beef in his attempt to lower grocery store beef prices, angering U.S. ranchers.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab

Suggested Topics:

Read Next

ago World category

ago Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals category

ago Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals category

ago Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals category

ago Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals category

Oil prices surged around 5% to a two-week high on Thursday after the U.S. imposed sanctions on major Russian suppliers Rosneft and Lukoil over Moscow’s war in Ukraine, prompting energy firms in China and India to consider cutting Russian imports.

Site Index

About Reuters

Stay Informed

Information you can trust

Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world’s media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.

Read More