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Straits Times
15 hours ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Trump says India may pay 20-25% tariff but nothing finalised
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox India has expressed willingness to offer zero tariffs on some goods such as auto components and pharmaceuticals. WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said that India may be hit with a tariff rate of 20 per cent to 25 per cent but cautioned the final levy had still not been finalised as the two countries negotiate on a trade deal ahead of an Aug 1 deadline. 'I think so,' he told reporters on July 29 when asked if that was a possible tariff rate for New Delhi. His comments came before the start of the business day in India and there has been no official response yet from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. 'India has been a good friend, but India has charged basically more tariffs than almost any other country,' Mr Trump said aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from a five-day visit to Scotland. 'You just can't do that.' The president was commenting ahead of an Aug 1 deadline when a slew of so-called reciprocal tariffs are set to take effect on dozens of trading partners. Mr Trump announced higher levies in April, before pausing those tariffs at a reduced 10 per cent rate to allow time for negotiations. Despite an extended deadline, Mr Trump has only secured a handful of deals. India has conveyed to the Trump administration the red lines it won't breach in finalising an agreement, officials familiar with the matter said in July. New Delhi won't allow the US to export genetically modified crops to the country, and is unwilling to open widely its dairy and automobile sectors, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. India has expressed willingness to offer zero tariffs on some goods such as auto components and pharmaceuticals. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. World Japan issues tsunami warning after 8.7-magnitude earthquake strikes off Russia Business MAS keeps Singapore dollar policy unchanged amid US tariff risks to economy Singapore Grace Fu apologises for Tanjong Katong sinkhole, says road may stay closed for a few more days Business No clarity yet on baseline or pharmaceutical tariffs with US: DPM Gan Opinion Nobel Prize? Maybe not, but give Asean credit for Cambodia-Thailand ceasefire Asia Fragile Cambodia-Thailand truce faces challenges on day one Business Cathay Cineplexes ropes in restructuring specialist as more payment demands pile up Singapore Facts and myths intersect at the National Museum's new glass rotunda installation Mr Modi's government has taken a more cautious stance as it faces pressure to protect India's politically sensitive farm sector. Millions depend on agriculture for their livelihoods and farmers form a key voting bloc for Mr Modi's party, which faces a crucial state election in the coming months. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said July 28 that the US needed more time for talks with India to gauge the country's willingness to open its market more to American exports. Reuters reported earlier on July 29 that New Delhi is bracing for higher tariffs likely between 20 per cent and 25 per cent. India and the US have already signed terms of reference for a bilateral trade deal and have been negotiating an interim agreement that New Delhi hoped would give it a reprieve from higher US import duties. Mr Trump has separately threatened to place 'secondary tariffs' on Russia, a move that would likely hit countries like India and China that buy its oil. Bloomberg
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Singapore charity raises $55,000 for Tanjong Katong sinkhole heroes; DPM Gan says US non-committal on whether baseline tariff will stay at 10%: Singapore live news
A charity in Singapore has stepped up to raise around $55,000 for the group of migrant workers who rescued a woman driver from her car after it fell into a sinkhole in Tanjong Katong Road South on 26 July. ItsRainingRaincoats founder Dipa Swaminathan, as reported by Mothership, said her charity had been "overwhelmed by requests" from members of the public, who wanted to thank the workers for their act of heroism. Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong was in the US last week to discuss tariff concessions. On Tuesday (29 July), DPM Gan revealed that US officials were "non-committal" on whether its baseline tariff on Singaporean goods would stay at 10%. Read more in our live blog below, including the latest local and international news and updates. Singapore charity raises $55,000 for Tanjong Katong sinkhole heroes Singapore charity ItsRainingRaincoats has raised around $55,000 for the group of brave migrant workers who rescued a woman driver from her car which had been swallowed up by a sinkhole in Tanjong Katong Road South on 26 July. For their quick-thinking and heroism, the seven foreign workers involved in the rescue were recently awarded special commemorative coins by Minister of State for Manpower Dinesh Vasu Dash. However, ItsRainingRaincoats founder Dipa Swaminathan wanted to do more for the workers as her charity had been "overwhelmed by requests" from members of the public, reports Mothership. "The reason they're here is to earn a living. The reason they sacrifice being away from their family, is to come here and learn a living," she told the publication. "So really, what [could be] more meaningful than funds for them to further their prospects?" According to Dipa, the fundraiser surpassed $24,000 within 24 hours. At press time today, the figure is at $54,991 from over 1300 donors. The migrant workers named in the rescue are Pitchai Udaiyappan Subbiah, Sathapillai Rajendran, Velmuragan Muthusamy, Poomalai Saravanan, Ganesan Veerasekar, Bose Ajithkumar and Narayanasamy Mayakrishnan. The ItsRainingRaincoats fundraiser for the workers remains open and you can donate here. DPM Gan says US non-committal on whether baseline tariff will stay at 10% The US was non-committal on whether its baseline tariff on Singaporean goods would stay at 10% in talks last week, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said on Tuesday (29 July). DPM Gan, who is also Singapore's trade minister, was at an Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) and Singapore Business Federation (SBF) conference, and made the comments during a dialogue moderated by journalist David Rennie. Gan said he had asked US officials whether they were open to negotiations on the 10% tariff. "I think the answer for the time being was quite obvious – they are not in the mood to discuss any discount to the baseline tariff," he said. When DPM Gan pressed officials if the baseline tariff would go higher or lower, their response did not give much awa "The answer was non-committal. They are still reviewing the tariff, and in time to come they will make an appropriate announcement, so we just have to wait and see," Gan said. Singapore charity ItsRainingRaincoats has raised around $55,000 for the group of brave migrant workers who rescued a woman driver from her car which had been swallowed up by a sinkhole in Tanjong Katong Road South on 26 July. For their quick-thinking and heroism, the seven foreign workers involved in the rescue were recently awarded special commemorative coins by Minister of State for Manpower Dinesh Vasu Dash. However, ItsRainingRaincoats founder Dipa Swaminathan wanted to do more for the workers as her charity had been "overwhelmed by requests" from members of the public, reports Mothership. "The reason they're here is to earn a living. The reason they sacrifice being away from their family, is to come here and learn a living," she told the publication. "So really, what [could be] more meaningful than funds for them to further their prospects?" According to Dipa, the fundraiser surpassed $24,000 within 24 hours. At press time today, the figure is at $54,991 from over 1300 donors. The migrant workers named in the rescue are Pitchai Udaiyappan Subbiah, Sathapillai Rajendran, Velmuragan Muthusamy, Poomalai Saravanan, Ganesan Veerasekar, Bose Ajithkumar and Narayanasamy Mayakrishnan. The ItsRainingRaincoats fundraiser for the workers remains open and you can donate here. DPM Gan says US non-committal on whether baseline tariff will stay at 10% The US was non-committal on whether its baseline tariff on Singaporean goods would stay at 10% in talks last week, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said on Tuesday (29 July). DPM Gan, who is also Singapore's trade minister, was at an Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) and Singapore Business Federation (SBF) conference, and made the comments during a dialogue moderated by journalist David Rennie. Gan said he had asked US officials whether they were open to negotiations on the 10% tariff. "I think the answer for the time being was quite obvious – they are not in the mood to discuss any discount to the baseline tariff," he said. When DPM Gan pressed officials if the baseline tariff would go higher or lower, their response did not give much awa "The answer was non-committal. They are still reviewing the tariff, and in time to come they will make an appropriate announcement, so we just have to wait and see," Gan said. The US was non-committal on whether its baseline tariff on Singaporean goods would stay at 10% in talks last week, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said on Tuesday (29 July). DPM Gan, who is also Singapore's trade minister, was at an Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) and Singapore Business Federation (SBF) conference, and made the comments during a dialogue moderated by journalist David Rennie. Gan said he had asked US officials whether they were open to negotiations on the 10% tariff. "I think the answer for the time being was quite obvious – they are not in the mood to discuss any discount to the baseline tariff," he said. When DPM Gan pressed officials if the baseline tariff would go higher or lower, their response did not give much awa "The answer was non-committal. They are still reviewing the tariff, and in time to come they will make an appropriate announcement, so we just have to wait and see," Gan said.
AsiaOne
16 hours ago
- Business
- AsiaOne
No clarity yet on baseline or pharmaceutical tariffs with US: DPM Gan, Singapore News
SINGAPORE – The US government did not negotiate its tariffs on Singapore and did not want to commit on whether the 10 per cent baseline tax could rise or fall in the future, said Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong. DPM Gan, who visited the US from July 20 to 26, added that he did not get to further discussions on pharmaceutical tariffs being contemplated by the Trump administration. He told the SG60 IPS-SBF Conference on July 29 that these talks did not take place as he did not get the chance to meet Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. He did, however, meet other officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. They discussed ways to keep up the long and mutually beneficial bilateral economic relationship, as well as potential collaboration in areas like the digital economy. DPM Gan also met business leaders in New York, and congressional leaders handling trade issues in Washington. He also visited an ST Engineering aerostructures factory in Maryland. The US administration was 'not in the mood to discuss any discount to the baseline tariff', DPM Gan said at a dialogue moderated by David Rennie, The Economist's geopolitics editor. 'We also wanted to know whether the baseline tariff will stay at 10 per cent or will it be higher or lower? The answer was non-committal. They are still reviewing the tariff and, in time to come, they will make the appropriate announcement. So we just have to wait and see.' DPM Gan, who is also Minister for Trade and Industry, said he has told US officials that Singapore would be keen to negotiate its baseline tariff rate if the opportunity arises. Pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, which are key exports from Singapore to the US, are currently exempt from baseline tariffs. But US President Donald Trump had earlier in 2025 threatened to end an exemption for pharmaceutical imports, saying tariffs would be imposed 'at a level that you haven't really seen before'. The US is a major market for Singapore-based drugmakers including American multinationals like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. DPM Gan said official-level discussions between Singapore and the US Department of Commerce, which commenced before his trip, are still ongoing. 'I can't go into detail because negotiation is ongoing and there's a bit of a confidentiality we need to maintain on both sides,' he said when asked what the US was looking to secure through these talks. He added that the US generally had concerns about what the country experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic, when supplies of critical pharmaceuticals were disrupted. 'They want to make sure that they have a secure supply line of pharmaceuticals. They do want to see whether they can onshore this production, so that they can produce (it) themselves. But they also know that it's not possible to onshore everything, because some of the raw materials are actually (from) outside of America,' he said. 'They do need to think about how they can work with partners, trusted partners, to make sure that their supply chain is secure and reliable. So that is what they are looking for in their partners, including Singapore,' he added. 'I think the administration's focus now is to finish the negotiation of reciprocal tariffs. Then it will start to engage countries on specific sectoral tariffs in pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.' DPM Gan said Singapore has yet to engage the US on the prospect of semiconductor tariffs. However, he added that discussions to preserve the country's access to artificial intelligence equipment and semiconductors are under way. Speaking at the same conference earlier in the day, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said Singapore's trade and investment relationship with America, even with the tariffs, remains important. 'We would prefer to have zero tariffs of course, but if it is the baseline rate, then we are at the lowest category. We can live with it, and we can still do business and there will still be many opportunities for trade with the US, because whatever is happening in America now, the economy is still resilient, and there is still tremendous innovation happening in American companies, and so there will still be opportunities there,' he said. DPM Gan in his dialogue said the US economy continues to be relatively resilient. He said that based on the feedback from US businessmen he met on his trip, the outlook for the US economy seems cautiously optimistic, adding that Mr Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, which includes tax cuts and business support measures, may have contributed to this. He said Singapore continues to have a good working relationship with the US. The US was Singapore's second-largest trading partner in 2024, while Singapore was its 16th-largest trading partner. Singapore was also the third-largest Asian investor in the US. More than 250 Singapore companies operate across 45 states, supporting around 350,000 jobs in the US, according to the Republic's Ministry of Trade and Industry. The US also has a longstanding trade surplus and free trade agreement with Singapore. [[nid:720678]] The recent deals between the US and several countries, as well as the European Union economic bloc, are good news, DPM Gan said. 'This gives us a sense that there's good progress in the tariff negotiation. But I also come back with the sense that there remains significant uncertainty. I'm not sure whether the uncertainty has really been eliminated or even reduced,' he added. He cited the lack of clarity on the rules of origin that will be used to determine where products originate from. He also said it is unclear how reciprocal tariffs will be implemented, and how components from different countries and transshipped goods will be assessed. This comes on top of the uncertainty around sectoral tariffs, which are yet to be determined. There is also uncertainty about whether the investments that countries have pledged to the US under tariff deals are new contributions, or money that is currently invested in another country, DPM Gan said. 'For example, the EU has committed to make an investment... over a period of time. Japan has also committed investments into the US. Japan has been a major investor in Singapore. Whether the Japanese investment in Singapore will be diverted to the US is a question that is yet to be seen,' he said. 'There are (also) uncertainties as to how countries will respond to the outcome of the tariff negotiation. Some countries have also committed to purchase more from the US, and they would have been purchasing these products from other countries. Whether now, instead of purchasing from country A, country B, they will now purchase from the US, and therefore exports from these countries to affected countries will be changed,' he added. 'I think these uncertainties (are) second derivative uncertainties. No one is paying much attention yet, because we need to have a tariff settled, then we work out how the secondary impact would be.' Global supply chains will also be restructured if countries move their investments from destinations facing higher US tariffs to those facing lower tariffs, he said. 'The overall global trading system, what we call the rules-based multilateral trading system, that we depend on rules, respecting trade agreements with one another, and not change at will, is something that has been challenged,' DPM Gan said. 'Today, we can agree with one another on a certain tariff, but tomorrow, something happens. We start to change our tariff rate, and that is something that is very uncertain, and that has been seen over the last few months.' [[nid:720154]] This article was first published in The Straits Times . Permission required for reproduction.
Straits Times
16 hours ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Trump's trade deals come with few details to flesh out big numbers
Mr Donald Trump touted landmark agreements with Japan and the European Union in the past week, adding to pacts with a handful of smaller economies. WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump's flurry of trade deal announcements are so far proving light on detail – with key aspects still under negotiation, partners giving mixed signals about what they signed up for, and big numbers shrinking under scrutiny. Mr Trump touted landmark agreements with Japan and the European Union in the past week, adding to pacts with a handful of smaller economies. An extension of the US-China tariff truce is also in the works. The administration is taking a victory lap, claiming vindication for Mr Trump's bargaining style as he prepares a raft of import-tax hikes before an Aug 1 deadline. 'I think the trade deals are working out very well – hopefully for everybody, but for the United States they're very, very good,' the president said Tuesday while flying home to Washington from Scotland. Yet while the scale of America's tariff wall is becoming clearer, other details remain fuzzy in the extreme – especially investment promised by counterparties, which on paper exceeds US$1 trillion (S$1.28 trillion) for the EU and Japan deals alone. For Mr Trump, these capital pledges are evidence that his protectionist agenda is on course to do what he promised it would: revive American manufacturing and create jobs. If actual investment falls short of the big numbers, tariffs could end up boosting revenue for the government – and costs for US consumers and companies – while failing to achieve those loftier goals. 'Signing bonus' Mr Trump's deal with Japan includes a US$550 billion fund that the US called a 'foreign investment commitment,' and the president said amounts to 'a sort of signing bonus'. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Business No clarity yet on baseline or pharmaceutical tariffs with US: DPM Gan Singapore Grace Fu apologises for Tanjong Katong sinkhole, says road may stay closed for a few more days Asia 8-magnitude quake strikes off Russia's Kamchatka, sparks tsunami warnings in Japan Asia Fragile Cambodia-Thailand truce faces challenges on day one Opinion Nobel Prize? Maybe not, but give Asean credit for Cambodia-Thailand ceasefire Singapore Facts and myths intersect at the National Museum's new glass rotunda installation Singapore Liquidators score victory to recoup over $900 million from alleged scammer Ng Yu Zhi's associates Multimedia Making a splash: Picture-perfect moments from the World Aquatics Championships in S'pore But Japanese officials said only 1 or 2 per cent of the total – a maximum US$11 billion – would be investment, with the rest essentially made up of loans. And they said the 90-10 per cent profit split in America's favor highlighted by Mr Trump's team only applies to that smaller investment portion. At minimum, the two countries are describing the accord differently, raising the potential for future snags. 'It's not that US$550 billion in cash will be sent to the US,' Japan's top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said. But Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick put it this way, speaking last week to Fox News: 'This is literally the Japanese government giving Donald Trump $550 billion.' Mr Lutnick said Mr Trump would increase tariffs again if Japan reneged on the fund. As for the EU deal, he acknowledged on July 29 that there's 'plenty of horse-trading left to do'. The EU pledged US$600 billion in new investments. European officials say the target is just an aggregate of promises by companies, and the bloc can't commit to a binding target. Neither side has spelled out the contents. 'Basically they're going to build the factories,' Mr Lutnick told Fox News on July 28. 'All the car companies committed they're going to build the factories. The pharmaceutical companies have gone out and said they're going to build these factories.' The EU also promised energy purchases from the US worth US$750 billion over the next three years – roughly triple the current pace. That target could strain the capacity of American exporters as well as European importers, some analysts say. Aside from the tariff rates, much of the recent deals consist of 'vague promises with large numbers attached that don't have any mechanisms for follow-through,' said Mr Alex Jacquez, who served on the Biden administration's National Economic Council. 'Nobody seems to believe that these checks as written are actually going to cash.' Russia wildcard There's more clarity around the tariff numbers, though they're still in flux too. Mr Trump will raise duties on most imports from Japan and the EU to 15 per cent from the current 10 per cent. Those partners will get a partial waiver on certain industry-specific US tariffs that carry higher rates worldwide – like for automobiles – but not on others like steel and aluminum, where talks on an exemption involving quotas continue. The revised auto tariffs on Japan and the EU are not yet finalized but are expected to take effect on Aug 1, according to a White House official. Mr Trump says there are more of these sectoral tariffs to come, and some of his recent deals may cause confusion by preempting yet-to-be-announced numbers. For instance, he pledged 15 per cent tariffs for the EU on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals – two sectors where rates haven't been finalised. A senior US official also said that Mr Trump agreed to grant Japan whatever the lowest rate is for those two categories, but that commitment isn't in the public US fact sheet. A White House official said that the lower 15 per cent rates for pharmaceuticals and chips would only kick-in once higher levies Mr Trump has threatened under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act take effect. 'Always willing' Other already-announced deals have raised questions too – like the one with Vietnam earlier this month, which appears to have surprised officials in Hanoi with a tariff of 20 per cent, higher than they were said to have agreed to. US and Chinese negotiators, after two days of talks in Sweden this week, said they're on track to extend the tariff truce between the two countries. A wildcard there is Mr Trump's threat to impose new charges on countries that buy energy from Russia. China is the biggest buyer of Russian oil – followed by India, which is still embroiled in talks with the US. The fate of the two biggest US trade partners also seems to be headed down to the wire. Mr Trump has downplayed the chance of a deal with Canada, though Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney shrugged that off. Both Canada and Mexico face tariff hikes this week, but they won't apply across the board. Goods compliant with the USMCA trade pact are poised to maintain their current exemption, a major relief for both countries. Some critics say the administration's deal-by-deal approach to tariff rates risks ending up as a patchwork that lacks coherence. US auto companies, for example, objected to the Japan agreement, saying imported cars that don't have any US content are set to be taxed less than North American-built models that do. For all the unresolved questions, the administration is casting Aug 1 as something of a milestone in setting rates after months of threats. It's just not likely to be the final word in Mr Trump's rolling dealmaking. Several more pacts are very close, and tariff rates will either be agreed or imposed by Aug 1, Mr Kevin Hassett – head of the White House National Economic Council – said on July 29. But even after that, 'people can continue to negotiate,' he said. 'The president is always willing to negotiate.' BLOOMBERG
Straits Times
17 hours ago
- Health
- Straits Times
Bird flu wiped out poultry, and now the screwworm is coming for beef
AUSTIN, Texas – First came bird flu, which led to the culling of large swaths of the nation's poultry flocks and the soaring egg prices that helped undermine President Joe Biden's reelection. Now, ranchers in Texas and officials at the Agriculture Department are raising the next alarm: the New World screwworm. Texas livestock producers and ranchers fear that the United States is ill-equipped to handle a potential outbreak of screwworm, whose incursion into the country appears increasingly likely. With beef prices already soaring, the screwworm, whose Latin name roughly translates to 'man-eater,' is a real threat, to both cows and the cost of living for America's meat lovers. 'If we wait, we lose,' Mr Stephen Diebel, vice-president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, told state lawmakers during a hearing in Austin this month as he pleaded for intervention. The screwworm, like the measles, may have been forgotten by many, but it's not new. And like the measles, which has cropped up in Texas recently, screwworm was once all but eradicated from the United States. Infestations occur when a female fly lays eggs, between 10 and 400 at a time, on a fresh animal wound. Within a few hours, the eggs hatch into larvae that burrow and feed on the flesh. As the wound worsens, it attracts more flies, which lay more eggs. After about a week, adult screwworm flies can reproduce and begin the cycle all over again. The parasitic infection can kill a cow within two weeks if left untreated. There is currently no approved treatment. 'It's like something out of a horror movie,' the Texas agriculture commissioner, Mr Sid Miller, said in an interview. He saw distressed cattle infested with screwworm when he was a child in the early 1960s before it was nearly eradicated. 'It's quite a putrid sight,' he said. Livestock, wildlife, pets and, in rare cases, humans can be affected. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Business No clarity yet on baseline or pharmaceutical tariffs with US: DPM Gan Singapore Grace Fu apologises for Tanjong Katong sinkhole, says road may stay closed for a few more days Asia Fragile Thailand-Cambodia truce faces challenges on day one Opinion Nobel Prize? Maybe not, but give Asean credit for Cambodia-Thailand ceasefire Singapore Facts and myths intersect at the National Museum's new glass rotunda installation Singapore Liquidators score victory to recoup over $900 million from alleged scammer Ng Yu Zhi's associates Multimedia Making a splash: Picture-perfect moments from the World Aquatics Championships in S'pore Singapore Terrorism threat in Singapore remains high, driven by events like Israeli-Palestinian conflict: ISD In the 1950s, scientists discovered that radiation effectively sterilises screwworm flies, and the federal government began an eradication program. A small outbreak in a deer population in the Florida Keys was snuffed out in 2017. Now, a potentially bigger threat is approaching, migrating north from South America, where screwworm is endemic. It has been detected as close as 370 miles (595km) from Texas' border, carried by the surge of animals coming through the Darien Gap, a once largely impenetrable jungle area that separates South America and Central America. A joint eradication effort between the United States and Panama has largely kept screwworm south of Central America for decades. Illegal livestock transport and warm weather patterns have also contributed to the worm's climb north, a spokesperson for the Agriculture Department said. 'For small herds, it could wipe us out,' said Ms Shelbie Pippenger, who, with her husband, has a small herd in Texas and helps manage other ranches. 'Once something starts, it's difficult to stop it.' Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced in June an US$8.5 million (S$10.95 million) initiative based in Texas that will produce sterile male screwworm flies and then drop them into affected areas. Female flies mate only once in their lifetime, so the sterile flies eventually overwhelm and eradicate the pest. Ms Rollins also committed US$21 million to renovate a fly production facility in Mexico, where 60 million to 100 million sterile male flies would be produced each week for use in Mexico or Texas by the end of the year. But that effort would yield only about 20 per cent of the sterile flies the United States would need to manage an outbreak, experts said. Around 600 million flies were released each week to eradicate screwworm decades ago. Senator John Cornyn introduced legislation that would provide US$300 million to construct a facility to breed and sterilise flies, but the House has left Washington for the summer. 'We are desperately short on sterile fly production,' Mr Diebel said. Even before the fear of pestilence, the industry was facing challenges. Drought and high feed prices have pushed the American cattle inventory to the lowest it has been since 1952, according to the Agriculture Department. Domestic beef prices hit record highs in May, at an average of US$5.98 per pound for ground beef, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Beef from Brazil, the world's largest beef exporter, could bring some price relief, although President Donald Trump has promised to impose a 50 per cent tariff on Brazilian imports, beginning in August. And now, the screwworm is threatening to wipe out whole cattle herds in the United States. The tusklike mandibles protruding from the screwworm larva's mouth. The larva, left by a parasitic fly on a fresh animal wound, attracts more flies eventually killing a cow within two weeks. PHOTO: JOHN KUCHARSKI/U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE/NYTIMES Before the screwworm was eradicated, US beef producers experienced as much as US$20 million of economic loss each year from animal deaths, decreased livestock production, increased veterinary costs and other expenses, according to the Agriculture Department. Texas Governor Greg Abbott did not respond to questions about whether he would approve state funding for a fly factory. Mr Abbott has directed the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Animal Health Commission to create a response team to lead the state's screwworm preparations. Meanwhile, based on how fast the screwworm is traveling, Mr Miller said it could reach Texas within four months. In economic terms, the screwworm is already here, modestly at least. About 3 per cent of US cattle come from Mexico, but citing inadequate surveillance of screwworm, the Agriculture Department cut off imports of Mexican cattle in November 2024. Federal officials resumed the trade in February after Mexico put in place more rigorous inspection protocols. But imports were shut off again in May after the pest was detected in Veracruz and Oaxaca. NYTIMES
