As part of our advocacy around the USCMA review, IATP joined with 37 U.S. family farm, consumer, and worker organizations to submit the following letter on March 11, 2026 calling on the U.S. to remove the trade policy obstacles obstructing mandatory County of Origin Labeling (COOL) for meat.
Read co-author Karen Hansen-Kuhn's introduction to the letter here.
The current review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) presents an important opportunity to address problems in agricultural markets in North America. Improving transparency, especially through mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) for meat, should be a priority for the review. Increased transparency would contribute to fairer prices for producers and allow consumers to make informed choices about their purchases.
A broad coalition of consumer, farmer, rancher, commodity, faith-based and rural groups worked for years to advocate for mandatory COOL for fruits and vegetables, seafood, meat, and poultry. In 2008, Congress passed a Farm Bill that required mandatory COOL for fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, seafood, certain nuts, and meat and poultry sold in grocery stores. But in 2015, Congress repealed mandatory labeling for beef and pork, after the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled against the United States in a challenge to COOL regulations for meat brought by Canada and Mexico. The short window of mandatory labeling requirements showed that labeling can benefit U.S. producers: the adoption of mandatory COOL led to a steady price increase for U.S. cattle, and the repeal of mandatory COOL for beef triggered a price drop.
COOL is broadly supported by the public. A 2017 Consumer Federation of America survey found that 89 percent of consumers support country of origin labeling. Moreover, a 2022 poll found that 77 percent of respondents said it is important that the beef they purchase be born, raised, and harvested in the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) assessed consumer interest in meat origin labeling in 2024 as it updated the rules for voluntary "Product of USA" labels on meat. A study commissioned by the USDA found that “eligible consumers were willing to pay more for meat products bearing the 'Product of USA' claim versus products without this claim” and that “eligible consumers were willing to pay a premium for meat products where more production steps take place in the United States over meat products that were just processed in the United States.”
With rising imports and market concentration, COOL is more critical than ever. As the U.S. cattle herd continues to contract, due to drought and unsustainable market conditions, multinational meatpackers are importing beef at record levels, with about 16 percent of U.S. consumption coming from imports. The recent announcement that the United States will allow more imports of Argentinian beef, supposedly as a response to high beef prices at retail, offers a clear example of the impact on U.S. producers. While it is unlikely this will affect the prices consumers pay for beef, futures prices for feeder cattle fell in the month following the announcement. And without mandatory COOL, U.S. consumers have no way to express any preference or disapproval of these imports because they are largely invisible in the retail marketplace.
Trade policy should not prevent common sense popular measures like COOL that help markets function properly and facilitate competition. Mandatory COOL facilitates fair competition by providing accurate information in the marketplace. With mandatory COOL, U.S. producers can communicate their products’ attributes, including being produced under U.S. rules for safety, quality and environmental impact. And consumers can make informed decisions based on their priorities, like supporting U.S. producers or reducing food miles. Without mandatory COOL, the market is operating with incomplete information.
The USMCA review process presents an important opportunity to negotiate a new solution to this ongoing problem. This could be accomplished through the inclusion of an annex on Transparency in Food Labeling to the USMCA Chapter on Technical Barriers to Trade in which the three countries agree not to bring challenges to COOL and related food labeling issues to the WTO, followed by ongoing negotiations to permanently carve out measures related to transparency in food labeling from trade disputes.
We urge you to ensure that trade policy is no longer an impediment to market transparency and consumer choice. As you negotiate with Canada and Mexico, focus on the path towards restoring mandatory COOL and ensuring that global trade rules are not used as an excuse for preventing this crucial information from being provided in the marketplace.
Read the full letter with the list of signatories here.
