The Trump administration is threatening to close the border to cattle crossing from Mexico, after a monthslong border closure that started last year.
At the center of the United States’ threat to close the border is a deadly flesh-eating parasite called the New World Screwworm, which was detected in a cow in Mexico in November.
Following that case, Mexican and U.S. officials worked together to put in place new protocols for cattle imports into the United States, leading to the months-long border closure.
Now, President Donald Trump’s U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has sent a letter urging Mexico to lift restrictions on USDA-contracted aircraft fleets that she said are equipped to fight the parasite.
In the letter, she also claimed Mexico is imposing “substantial import duties on critical aviation parts, dispersal equipment, and sterile fly shipments.” She said that equipment is used to stop the spread of the New World Screw worm, a parasite the United States eradicated in the 1960s.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum implied that this latest measure from USDA was politically motivated.
“What we’re saying is that they can’t use Mexico as a piñata,” Sheinbaum said.
