US imports eggs from Korea, Turkey to ease prices
Mr Brooke Rollins, Agriculture Secretary to the US President, Donald Trump on Friday confirmed the United States is importing eggs from Turkey and South Korea to ease an avian flu-fueled supply crunch that has surged prices across the country.
Rollins said that imports from Turkey and South Korea had already begun, stating that the White House was also in talks with other countries about temporarily importing their eggs.
“We are talking in the hundreds of millions of eggs for the short term,” she added.
The cost of eggs has reportedly increased significantly due to multiple bird flu outbreaks in the United States, forcing farmers to cull at least 30 million birds and sharply constraining supply.
It was gathered that egg prices became a rallying point for Trump in last year’s presidential election campaign as he sought to capitalize on voters’ frustrations with the rising cost of essential items during his predecessor Joe Biden’s presidency.
Upon his second return to the White House in January, Trump tasked Rollins with the job of boosting the supply of eggs, and bringing down prices.
In the weeks since, producers in several countries have reported American interest in their produce, with the Polish and Lithuanian poultry associations saying that that they had been approached by US diplomatic staff on the hunt for fresh eggs.
The Director of Poland’s National Chamber of Poultry and Feed Producers, Katarzyna Gawronska, said there is a shortage of eggs in many countries.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, USDA, wholesale egg prices have fallen by almost 50 percent since late February, which suggests that consumer prices could soon start to fall.
“The downward trend underscores the effectiveness of USDA’s approach,” the agency said in a statement.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Rollins said that the imports of eggs would stop once US poultry farmers were able to ramp up supply.
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