The egg seizures showcase the Trump administration’s failure to behave on rising shopper prices.
U.S. Customs and Border Safety (CBP), the company tasked with stopping the transport of unauthorized objects throughout the nation’s borders, has been conducting extra seizures of illegally imported eggs and egg-related items than of fentanyl, the drug President Donald Trump steadily cites when enacting his draconian anti-immigration insurance policies.
There were 134 fentanyl seizures by CBP agents in January and February — a fee that’s practically 32 % decrease than the variety of seizures that occurred in the identical two months in 2024. In the meantime, there have been 3,254 seizures of eggs and egg-related merchandise in these two months, greater than double what was seen a 12 months in the past.
The info undermines the rationale for Trump’s commerce wars in opposition to Mexico and Canada, the place he has imposed or threatened to impose tariffs purportedly based on their inadequate restrictions on drugs flowing into the U.S. (Notably, U.S. residents smuggle medication, together with fentanyl, at far higher rates than noncitizens entrants to the country.)
The unlawful importation of eggs into the U.S. additionally showcases how Trump has didn’t act on reducing shopper prices. His administration has tried to spin these numbers, as eggs have change into synonymous with the president’s promise on the marketing campaign path to decrease shopper costs normally. However whereas the White Home is claiming that prices have gone down since Trump took workplace, that number reflects lower wholesale prices — the costs that distributors pay to farmers or different middlemen. Shopper prices stay terribly excessive, doubtless as a result of grocery shops deciding to maintain costs up (and even rising them, in some circumstances) to regain losses in earnings over prior weeks.
Regardless of claiming that there have been enhancements, the administration has didn’t state how, precisely, Trump has lowered the price of eggs — and price changes that are being seen are extra doubtless a pure correction than any response to Trump’s presidential initiatives.
Throughout his 2024 marketing campaign, Trump repeatedly promised that, as soon as elected, he would instantly decrease shopper prices. “Groceries, vehicles, the whole lot. We’re going to get the costs down,” Trump mentioned within the fall.
However after he received the election, he modified his tune significantly, admitting in December that “it’s hard to bring things down once [prices are] up.”
Certainly, the administration has provided little or no when it comes to options for customers, notably in relation to eggs, with Division of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins just lately suggesting that Individuals buy chickens to deal with the issue and Trump himself sharing a social media post telling people to “shut up” about egg prices.
Polling data over the past several weeks shows that Trump has been losing ground with Individuals on the difficulty of the economic system, a problem the president has sometimes polled nicely on. A latest NBC Information ballot, for instance, reveals that 54 % of Individuals disapprove of Trump’s dealing with of the difficulty, with 55 % additionally disapproving of his dealing with of inflation.
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