SELBYVILLE — As President Donald Trump forges ahead with sweeping global tariffs that have rocked Wall Street, China has announced it will suspend imports of chicken from Mountaire Farms and another company.
China’s customs administration said Friday it will pause imports from Mountaire and Coastal Processing, effective April 10. The country said that Chinese customs has repeatedly detected furazolidone, an antibiotic banned in China, in shipments from those firms.
The announcement is the latest move in a global trade war following Trump’s “Liberation Day,” which included 34% tariffs on Chinese exports on April 2. Combined with pre-existing tariffs, that means Chinese goods arriving in the U.S. would be effectively subject to tariffs of well over 54%.
In addition, China issued a reciprocal 34% tariff on U.S. goods — as well as adding 27 companies to a list of those subject to trade sanctions or other export controls.
Mountaire representatives declined to comment to the Delaware Business Times. Instead, the company referenced a statement issued by the National Chicken Council.
“We support the administration’s goals of leveling the playing field to achieve fair trade, and we’re hopeful for a swift resolution. Trade is an important component of the U.S. broiler industry as we export about 15% of production to other countries,” National Chicken Council Vice President of Communications Thomas Super said.
“We are monitoring the situation closely for retaliatory measures and how they might affect our members,” he continued. “The bottom line for the American consumer is that this should have little to no effect on their chicken sandwich or wings, as more than 99% of the chicken we eat in America is hatched, raised and harvested right here in the [U.S.]”
Mountaire is one of the three major chicken companies in the Delmarva region and has consistently ranked as one of the top manufacturers in Delaware, rivaling Perdue Farms in employee count. Last year, the region’s poultry industry raised 613 million chickens, which came out to 4.6 billion pounds of shelf-and table-ready chicken – most of which was sold on the Eastern Shore. Sales hit $4.8 billion for the area.
China is a prime importer of American farm products, though it has been waning in recent years as Chinese citizens consume less chicken, a U.S. Department of Agriculture report forecasts. China bought $5.84 million worth of American chicken last year.
