The United States has ceased all government operations in the Mexican state of Michoacán, including the inspections required for avocados from the region to be exported north, citing an ongoing threat in the region to U.S. interests.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico announced the suspension, which went into effect Aug. 5. The move stops U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors who verify that fruit from orchards and packing plants contains no pests before it can make its way to American markets.
Michoacán is the primary source of avocados en route to the United States. Mexico supplies approximately 80 percent of the avocados imported by the United States, and the crop provides about 200,000 jobs in that state alone. In 2025, Mexico sold $3.65 billion worth of avocados to the United States, according to Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development. Shipments through the first four months of this year were up 35 percent from the same period a year prior. …