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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAs U.S. meat workers fall sick and supplies dwindle, exports to China soar
CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump ordered meat processing plants to stay open to protect the nations food supply even as workers got sick and died. Yet the plants have increasingly been exporting to China while U.S. consumers face shortages, a Reuters analysis of government data showed.
Trump, who is in an acrimonious public dispute with Beijing over its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, invoked the 1950 Defense Production Act on April 28 to keep plants open. Now he is facing criticism from some lawmakers, consumers and plant employees for putting workers at risk in part to help ensure Chinas meat supply.
Meat buyers in China ramped up imports from around the world as a pig disease decimated its herd, the worlds largest, and pushed Chinese pork prices to record highs. The supply shock drove China to pay more for U.S. meat than other countries, and even U.S. consumers, since late 2019.
We know that over time exports are critically important. I think we need to focus on meeting domestic demand at this point, said Mike Naig, the agriculture secretary in the top U.S. pork-producing state of Iowa who supported Trumps order.
Processors including Smithfield Foods, owned by Chinas WH Group Ltd, Brazilian-owned JBS USA and Tyson Foods Inc temporarily closed about 20 U.S. meat plants as the virus infected thousands of employees, prompting meatpackers and grocers to warn of shortages. Some plants have resumed limited operations as workers afraid of getting sick stay home.
The disruptions mean consumers could see 30% less meat in supermarkets by the end of May, at prices 20% higher than last year, according to Will Sawyer, lead economist at agricultural lender CoBank.
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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-meatpacking-an/as-u-s-meat-workers-fall-sick-and-supplies-dwindle-exports-to-china-soar-idUSKBN22N0IN
sinkingfeeling
(51,453 posts)crickets
(25,969 posts)mitch96
(13,895 posts)Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)this bullshit about keeping those Packinghouses open was all about shipping Pork to China,nothing more and nothing less.
In 2014 when WH Group of China made their run at Smithfield,there were stories about how US pork would be diverted to China before filling any Orders for product in the USA.
We can thank the GOP for this beauty.