DENVER — As the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump approaches, the agricultural sector remains on alert for how Trump’s second administration may affect trade with key global partners. The US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) has its sights set on two regions the group believes would have significant potential for US meat exports.

First of interest is Canada and Mexico, with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) slated to be reviewed in 2026.

Erin Borror, USMEF vice president of economic analysis, noted that USMCA, which was negotiated in the first Trump administration, delivered tariff-free trade and minimal sanitary and phytosanitary barriers across North America.

“We need to maintain that tariff-free trade and very minimal type of SPS barriers, and so that strong upgrade in USMCA needs to be maintained,” she said.

The other region full of opportunity the United States is the United Kingdom, Borror said.

She pointed out that during the first Trump administration, the United States and the United Kingdom held trade talks, which she believes could signal an opportunity for an early trade win.

Currently, US red meat holds virtually no market share in the United Kingdom.

“We have basically no access into the UK for US beef, and that’s a $2 billion market, of which we’re essentially out of,” Borror said. “And on the pork side, [there’s] also tremendous potential. The UK imports 630,000 tons of pork a year, about $2.8 billion — again, US pork hardly there. We just need reciprocal access. We need no tariffs, no quotas. UK benefits from practically unfettered access into the US, and we need the same into the UK.”