National and Canadian Bison Associations Warn of Impacts of Potential Tariff

February 4, 2025 – The National Bison Association (NBA) and Canadian Bison Association (CBA) are jointly seeking a quick end to the threat of tariffs between the United States and Canada. The new 25% tariffs threaten to disrupt an already tight bison supply chain and cause severe harm at the farm level in both countries. Both organizations are calling on officials to avoid any further disruptions and return to the duty-free trade for live bison that has sustained this sector of agriculture for decades, while restoring the bison species to North America.

The nascent bison industry enjoys a mutually beneficial relationship between the two nations. Today, live Canadian bison cross the border at an unprecedented rate. Nearly half of all bison processed in the U.S. in 2024 were imported from Canada. This helps support a nearly $1 billion industry and a growing sector of American agriculture.

Americans are the largest consumers of bison meat in the world. The U.S. industry relies on weekly shipments of live bison to supply growing demand for its clean and naturally raised protein. Due to the nature and logistics of shipping live bison, a non-domesticated species, even the recent threat of tariffs resulted in the disruption of exports from Canada to the U.S.

Said NBA Executive Director, Jim Matheson, “The U.S. has long been the sole importer of live Canadian bison, which are finished, or go direct to slaughter here, and are crucial to supplying our domestic markets with healthy, regeneratively raised bison. In 2024, imported live Canadian bison made up nearly half of the total bison processed in the U.S., about 80,000 head. The new tariff on these imported bison is already impacting our supply chain negatively. Just this weekend after news broke of the tariff, one of our top Canadian importers announced that they are halting imports to the U.S. effective immediately due to the tariff at a time when the supply of market-ready bison is extremely tight.”

“Tariffs would significantly hurt the Canadian bison industry, but also significantly damage the entire North American market,” says Scott Yule, executive director of the CBA. “The U.S. simply can’t supply their domestic markets without Canadian bison. When U.S. consumers aren’t able to source bison meat from their regular supplier, they will eventually move to other sources of protein. It could take a lot of effort to regain their interest in this delicious and healthy meat.”

The NBA and CBA will continue monitoring the situation and work with officials in both countries to come to a resolution that will sustain the bison business, and in turn, the North American bison herd. The bison was established as the National Mammal of the United States in 2016. Bison are a North American conservation success story. They roamed the continent for thousands of years before there were any international borders. Ranchers and conservationists on both sides of the Canadian-U.S. border saved the species from extinction. Since the 1980s, a strong commercial industry has evolved in both countries. The North American bison market is extremely integrated and despite the border, they still move across it relatively freely.

About the NBA
The NBA is a non-profit association of producers, processors, marketers, and bison enthusiasts with 1,200 members currently. The vision of the NBA is a community bound by the heritage of the American Bison. The mission of the National Bison Association is to bring together stakeholders to celebrate the heritage of American bison, to educate, and to create a sustainable future for our industry. Learn more at bisoncentral.com, or @nationalbison.

About the CBA
The CBA is a non-profit organization which represents the interests of the Canadian bison industry. It provides support to its 500 members and administers certain activities related to marketing, animal health, research, animal identification, government liaison, trade, traceability, the bison registry, conservation and other developmental initiatives.  Learn more at canadianbison.ca