US Exports Stuck in Limbo Amid Bird Flu Reprieves

The US poultry export market is grappling with ongoing challenges as trade bans on poultry persist, despite several months passing without any bird flu infections in flocks. These bans, implemented last year to prevent the spread of avian flu, are significantly impacting the $6 billion US poultry export market. Poultry producers are now facing not only trade restrictions but also a combination of limited labor, lower chicken prices, and uncertainty regarding feed costs. 

Of particular importance to US poultry companies like Pilgrim's Pride is the Chinese market, which serves as the primary destination for products like chicken feet, generally not consumed in the US. However, China, alongside South Africa and the Dominican Republic, continues to uphold bans on poultry imports from 37 states that previously reported bird flu infections.  

Although Mexico, the leading market for American poultry meat, has largely lifted its trade bans, certain regions in a few states, including Colorado and Washington, still face restrictions. 

The failure of China to lift the bans within the stipulated 90 days after states eliminate avian flu from farms raises concerns, as this action violates the Phase 1 trade agreement signed with former President Donald Trump in 2020. Industry officials have raised this issue, but no official response has been received from either the US Trade Representative's office or China's General Administration of Customs. 

Various poultry producers, including Wayne-Sanderson Farms, Perdue Farms, Tyson Foods, and Pilgrim's Pride, have highlighted the severe impact of these trade restrictions on their operations. Wayne-Sanderson Farms alone reports opportunity losses amounting to millions of dollars due to restrictions on various poultry products. 

The global avian flu outbreak has had far-reaching consequences for poultry trade, with regional or national bans being enforced in response to the highly lethal virus affecting commercial farms. This has raised concerns among United Nations agencies that the virus may potentially adapt to infect humans more easily. 

Despite the decline in bird flu cases and the last reported infection in a commercial flock in April, certain states continue to grapple with export restrictions. The USA Poultry and Egg Export Council has estimated that the outbreak has resulted in nearly $1 billion in export losses, although this is a reduction from the $1.3 billion loss during the 2015 outbreak. 

Efforts have been made by the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council to request China to lift restrictions on 14 states that have been deemed free of avian flu. However, China's reluctance to do so remains unchanged, and US industry officials suspect that political factors amid heightened tensions between China and the US may be contributing to the delay.