WASHINGTON – Today, President Trump will sign “phase one” of his trade deal with China. While there have been reports that China will make $40 billion in purchases of U.S. farm commodities as part of this deal, the specifics will be secret, as reported by Politico. What we do know is that the Trump Administration will permit China to export Chinese poultry products to the U.S.
In response, Senior Government Affairs Representative Food & Water Action Tony Corbo said,
“Among the most detrimental aspects of this deal is the USDA’s decision to grant equivalency status to Chinese poultry imports, which will mean more U.S. consumers buying and eating poultry products from a country that has had a long history of food safety scandals.
“To add insult to injury, since these products will be “processed,” so they are not subject to country-of-origin labeling requirements, leaving consumers in the dark. We have been leading the fight against equivalency status for Chinese poultry imports for the past 15 years. Americans do not want their food safety to be a secret. This trade deal is a failure and tragedy for America.”
“In addition, the trade mitigation payments that the Trump Administration has awarded because of the trade war it initiated have been mostly funneled straight to big agribusiness – not the farmers who are directly impacted. Some of the payments have even gone to firms owned by foreign entities such as the Brazilian-owned JBS that got another $10 million bailout payment just last week.”