The U.S. National Pork Producers Council urged President Donald Trump to reverse his decision to impose new tariffs on Mexico over illegal immigration.

“We appeal to President Trump to reconsider plans to open a new trade dispute with Mexico,” David Herring, president of the council and a pork producer from Lillington, North Carolina, said Friday in an emailed statement. “American pork producers cannot afford retaliatory tariffs from its largest export market, tariffs which Mexico will surely implement.”

Trade disputes with Mexico and China have cost U.S. pork producers US$2.5 billion over the past year, Herring said. The administration’s US$28 billion in trade aid announced so far for farmers “provide only partial relief to the damage trade retaliation has exacted on U.S. agriculture,” he said.

“Let’s move forward with ratification of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, preserving zero-tariff pork trade in North America for the long term; complete a trade agreement with Japan; and resolve the trade dispute with China, where U.S. pork has a historic opportunity to dramatically expand exports given the countries struggle with African swine fever,” Herring said.