U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly boasted that he is just lately introduced down the value of eggs in America, which have reached record highs amid an outbreak of chook flu in laying hens that led to a severe egg shortage.
On Monday, Trump even turned the L.A. Dodgers’ White House visit into a possibility to reward himself and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, claiming “eggs are down 73 per cent” because the baseball crew behind him clapped politely.
And on so-called Liberation Day on April 2, as Trump introduced sweeping international tariffs, he claimed Rollins brought down egg prices by more than half “as soon as we bought concerned.”
“They have been going via the sky, the egg costs,” Trump mentioned in his tackle. “Now we’ve got a lot of eggs and they are much cheaper, down about 59 per cent now. And so they’re happening additional.”
However have they actually? Seems, in terms of the value of eggs on retailer cabinets, not a lot.
U.S. egg costs elevated once more final month to succeed in a new record-high average of $6.23 US per dozen, or about $8.73 Cdn. That is up from about $5.90 US per dozen in February, and about $4.95 in January.
By comparability, Canada’s average retail price for a dozen eggs in February was $4.91 (or round $3.50 US), in line with the latest figures from Statistics Canada — roughly 40 per cent cheaper than in case you purchased them south of the border.
The U.S. enhance was reported Thursday within the Consumer Price Index. General, the index for meals elevated 0.4 per cent in March, which features a 5.9 per cent enhance within the index for eggs, in line with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. During the last 12 months, the index for eggs elevated by 60.4 per cent.
This implies shoppers and companies that depend on eggs may not get a lot rapid aid. Demand for eggs is usually elevated till after Easter, which falls on April 20.
And in response, on some social media platforms a familiar refrain based on a viral meme echoed: Trump take egg. The pithy assertion has been used on-line by pissed off U.S. shoppers as they share images, movies and tales displaying rising costs or empty retailer cabinets.
“Trump take extra egg,” wrote one user on Bluesky, linking to a narrative about March’s value enhance.
“Trump take egg (redux),” wrote another Bluesky person.
You can say that eggs are having their second within the solar. With Trump’s tariffs growing the price of most staples in customers’ grocery carts, B.C. eggs are one of many few proteins that will not take a severe hit. Shelley Joyce studies from Kamloops.
Why wasn’t there a retail drop?
The U.S. market had been beginning to present indicators of enchancment, with wholesale costs for eggs beginning to lower, in line with the USDA’s weekly egg markets overviews.
“The provision state of affairs at grocery shops has vastly improved in latest weeks, and shoppers are as soon as once more seeing absolutely stocked cabinets and having fun with a variety of decisions with out buy restrictions,” famous the latest report from April 4.
And in its day by day National Shell Egg Index Report, the USDA mentioned that nationwide common egg weighted costs are “regular to decrease.”
College of Arkansas agricultural economist Jada Thompson told The Associated Press the wholesale costs didn’t begin dropping till mid-March, so there might not have been sufficient time for the typical value for the month to say no regardless that costs began to fall on the finish of the month. And grocery shops might not have instantly handed on the decrease costs.
“I believe there are many individuals who need to see the egg costs coming down as a result of they needed to name it a win. And I believe it is a loss for everyone. I believe all of us wish to see egg costs come down,” Thompson mentioned.
Costs within the U.S. fluctuate vastly by location, relying on the placement of latest chook flu outbreaks and a few state legal guidelines requiring eggs to be cage-free.
At a Safeway in downtown San Francisco on Thursday, cage-free eggs have been $9.99 US per dozen. At a Safeway in Denver, the identical cage-free eggs have been $6.69 US per dozen. And at a Safeway in Washington, D.C., which does not require eggs to be cage-free, a dozen eggs have been $5.29 US. In Omaha, Nebraska, Walmart is promoting eggs for $4.97 US per dozen.
The value for a carton of eggs has remained comparatively secure in Canada, regardless of excessive egg costs afflicting the U.S. within the midst of an avian flu outbreak. Consultants say that’s due to smaller Canadian farms and the way outbreaks are managed right here.
Trump take (Easter) egg
In the meantime, with Easter across the nook, the White Home just lately introduced that it’ll proceed to make use of actual eggs for its annual Easter egg roll regardless of the excessive costs.
Egg farmers sometimes donate greater than 30,000 eggs for the occasion.
“They have been saying that for Easter, ‘Please do not use eggs. May you employ plastic eggs?’ I say we do not wish to do this,” Trump mentioned in remarks on April 2, according to NBC.
In a statement last month, the American Egg Board confirmed it was planning to proceed with the custom, explaining that “it is not going to create further pressure on the nation’s egg provide or egg costs” with the two,500 eggs it plans to donate.
There are several on-line petitions at present circulating asking Trump to rethink.
“Whereas American households are unable to afford fundamental requirements, it’s merciless to make use of 30,000 actual eggs for enjoyable,” notes the outline on a petition on Change.Org.
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