Mississippi Congressman Michael Guest commended the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agriculture Service for its work to reopen the Chinese poultry market to American farmers. United States poultry and poultry products have been banned by the Chinese government since 2015. The end of this ban will reopen a large export market for American poultry producers.
“This is great news for our poultry farmers in Mississippi. As the third largest poultry producing district in the nation, Mississippi’s Third Congressional District will benefit greatly from this renewed access to the Chinese market,” Guest said. “Agriculture Secretary Purdue and Ambassador Lighthizer have secured a long sought-after victory for American agriculture. We are thankful for their unparalleled leadership in this win for our poultry industry.”
United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and United States Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Purdue announced the lifting of the ban earlier today and released the following statements:
“The United States welcomes China’s decision to finally lift its unwarranted ban on U.S. poultry and poultry products. This is great news for both America’s farmers and China’s consumers,” said Ambassador Lighthizer. “China is an important export market for America’s poultry farmers, and we estimate they will now be able to export more than $1 billion worth of poultry and poultry products each year to China. Reopening China to U.S. poultry will create new export opportunities for our poultry farmers and support thousands of workers employed by the U.S. poultry industry.”
Secretary Perdue said, “After being shut out of the market for years, U.S. poultry producers and exporters welcome the reopening of China’s market to their products. America’s producers are the most productive in the world and it is critical they be able to sell their bounty to consumers in other parts of the globe. We will continue our work to expand market access in important markets like China as well as other countries, to support our producers and U.S. jobs.”
