Canada has resumed Smithfield Foods’ Tar Heel, North Carolina, U.S. biggest pork-processing plant after a week-long suspension, the company announced on Friday.
The suspension briefly restricted a market for U.S. pork amid farmers’ concerns that trade disputes with major buyers like Mexico, Canada, and China could hurt agricultural exports.
Smithfield CEO, Shane Smith, said the suspension was due to an issue with offal products at the border, not tariffs.
“Canada temporarily suspended imports from this facility following an issue with a limited number of certain offal shipments,” company spokesperson Jim Monroe said.
The suspension lasted from March 6 to March 12, and pork products made after March 12 are now eligible for export to Canada, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Canada was the fifth-largest export market for U.S. pork last year, with shipments worth approximately $850 million, according to USDA data.
U.S. pork producers remain uncertain about the impact of trade disputes on demand.
USDA data released Thursday shows that pork export sales for the week ending March 6 were 20,262 metric tons, the lowest of the year so far and down 52% from the previous week.
