DELAWARE - China will stop chicken imports from Delmarva chicken processing company, Mountaire Farms, beginning April 10.
China retaliated with an import tax on U.S. goods following President Trump's global tariff hikes Friday. China’s customs administration said it had suspended imports of chicken from two U.S. suppliers, Mountaire Farms of Delaware and Coastal Processing in Georgia. It said Chinese customs had repeatedly detected furazolidone, a drug banned in China, in shipments from those companies.
Mountaire Farms declined a request to interview with CoastTV, but referred to a statement from 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 percent of production to other countries," said the National Chicken Council. "We are monitoring the situation closely for retaliatory measures and how they might affect our members. 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 percent of the chicken we eat in America is hatched, raised and harvested right here in the USA."
While it is unclear what this means for the Delmarva based company, tariffs on other products like chocolate and coffee are drawing concerns from other local businesses.