MEXICO CITY, July 8, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Mexico resumed cattle exports to the United States on Monday after Washington announced it was gradually lifting a nearly two-month pause over a pest control row.

US President Donald Trump's administration on May 11 announced a halt on imports of live cattle, horse and bison over its southern border because of an outbreak of the screwworm fly, whose flesh-eating larvae can kill cattle.

"The first group of cattle have crossed into the United States from Agua Prieta, Sonora, about 900," Mexican Agriculture Secretary Julio Berdegue posted on X.

The border crossing between Agua Prieta and Douglas, Arizona in the United States was the first to be re-opened for livestock from Mexico.

Berdegue said cattle exports had resumed thanks to efforts by both countries in battling the screwworm pest.

Trump's Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins had said in May the border would be reopened to livestock trade "once we see increased surveillance and eradication efforts, and the positive results of those actions."

Mexico exported just over one million head of cattle to the United States in 2024, according to official estimates. The trade was halted briefly that year for the same reason.

The livestock row came amid heightened tensions between the two neighbors over the Trump administration's hardline immigration policy and trade tariffs.