US egg imports meant to drive prices down could be hit by tariffs

By Tom Polansek and Leah Douglas

(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump's new tariffs could apply to eggs being imported to ease a supply shortage, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Thursday, a move that industry experts said could boost prices just as they have started to decline from record highs.

Rollins said in a Fox Business interview that tariffs on egg imports were possible and negotiations with affected countries were ongoing. On Wednesday, Trump announced sweeping tariffs that have been mostly criticized by agricultural and food groups for their potential to shrink markets for farmers and raise consumer prices.

The U.S. has increased imports of eggs from Turkey, Brazil and South Korea in an attempt to increase supplies amid an ongoing bird flu outbreak that has killed nearly 170 million chickens, turkeys and other birds since 2022. 

A new U.S. baseline tariff of 10% would affect imports from Turkey and Brazil, and South Korea is facing a 26% tariff, according to figures released by the White House. 

If levies are imposed on eggs, manufacturers that import them for processing into food products would either need to absorb the cost or pass it on to consumers, said Greg Tyler, CEO of the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council industry group.

"You will see increases in processed egg prices here in the United States as a result," he said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture did not respond to a request for comment.

Egg prices have declined in recent weeks from all-time highs, though the wholesale price is still up 60% from this time last year at $3 per dozen, according to USDA data. Weaker demand and a lull in new cases of bird flu have helped cool prices, analysts said.

The agriculture secretary, however, said tariffs would cause short-term uncertainty. 

"I'm not going to sit here and say, 'Oh, everything's going to be perfect and the prices are going to come down tomorrow,' because this is an uncertain time," Rollins told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo on the show Mornings with Maria.

The Brazilian government said it was evaluating its response to Trump's tariffs, while South Korea ordered emergency support measures for affected industries.

Imported eggs are generally brought into the U.S. on ships, transported to processing facilities, and then unloaded by hand, said Brian Moscogiuri, global trade strategist for egg supplier Eggs Unlimited.  

"There's more costs associated with the imports already, and now you add tariffs on top of it," he said. "It makes everything more costly and makes imports that much less likely to have a major impact."

The U.S. imported more than 1.6 million dozen consumer-grade chicken eggs in January and February, mostly from Turkey, compared with none a year earlier, USDA data show.

Turkey may not be as big of a supplier going forward because of tariffs and its own outbreak of bird flu, Moscogiuri said.

(Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago and Leah Douglas in Washington. Editing by Emily Schmall and Marguerita Choy)