Episode 875: Why Did The Cow Cross The Border?

By Jason Beaubien,

Sarah Gonzalez, Sarah Gonzalez

Published November 9, 2018 at 11:35 PM EST

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Lately, we've been nerding out about cattle. Specifically, about this one particular set of facts. Every year, the United States exports 500 million pounds of beef to Mexico. But every year, the United States imports 500 million pounds of beef from Mexico.

We heard this, and thought: How is that possible? Why are we trotting all these cows back and forth across the border? We sent a reporter to the border to find out. The answers to those questions explain a lot about how trade works.

Music: "Nighttime Cruisin'"

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Corrected: June 5, 2019 at 12:00 AM EDT

In a previous Web version of this podcast, we incorrectly said imports and exports of beef totaled 500 million tons each. The actual amount for each category is 500 million pounds.