President Donald Trump has decided to stop the import of livestock to the United States. 

Fox News reports that the move was announced, over the weekend, by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

Take a look:

🚨Due to the threat of New World Screwworm I am announcing the suspension of live cattle, horse, & bison imports through U.S. southern border ports of entry effective immediately.

The last time this devastating pest invaded America, it took 30 years for our cattle industry to…

— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) May 11, 2025

Here's what's going on:

The department has published a press release explaining why it is that it is stopping livestock imports.

It explains:

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today announced the suspension of live cattle, horse, and bison imports through U.S. ports of entry along the southern border due to the continued and rapid northward spread of New World Screwworm (NWS) in Mexico, effective immediately. NWS has been recently detected in remote farms with minimal cattle movement as far north as Oaxaca and Veracruz, about 700 miles away from the U.S. border.

Clearly, the Trump administration is trying to get ahead of this one.

Rollins, in her own statement, said, "it is my duty to take all steps within my control to protect the livestock industry in the United States from this devastating pest."

She added:

The protection of our animals and safety of our nation’s food supply is a national security issue of the utmost importance. Once we see increased surveillance and eradication efforts, and the positive results of those actions, we remain committed to opening the border for livestock trade. This is not about politics or punishment of Mexico, rather it is about food and animal safety.

Mexico is not happy

It appears that Mexico disagrees with this move by the Trump administration. Mexican President Claudia Cheibaum said as much on Monday.

It a statement, she said:

Minister Berdegue has already spoken with (Rollins) and proposed that it would only last 15 days to keep working, and we hope that this measure, which we consider unfair, will be lifted very soon.

It would appear, according to this statement, that the ban is only going to be in place for 15 days.

Reuters reports, "Mexican Agriculture Minister Julio Berdegue said the measure would only be in place for 15 days, which Sheinbaum repeated in her regular press conference on Monday."

It would seem, however, that the United States is disputing this timeline. It has said that the 15-day period is "not enough."