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Trump's Trade Wars Are Making Us Eat Less Chicken and More Bacon

Photo credit: Renphoto - Getty Images
Photo credit: Renphoto - Getty Images

From Esquire

Donald Trump's presidency is clogging American arteries.

When the President decided the U.S. was getting a very bad deal from trade agreements with Mexico, China, and other worldly powers, he enacted a tariff on steel and aluminum that he said favored U.S. manufacturers. But that tariff back-splashed all over other American companies, with Harley-Davidson, Miller-Coors, and more saying they would be forced to move jobs overseas. Mexico and China also retaliated with their own taxes, including on U.S. pork.

Now, less pork is going abroad, leaving more on the home front, where prices are being cut to accommodate the excess supply. And instead of letting all that meat languish in supermarket freezers and fast food fryers, we're ditching chicken to eat more and more bacon, pork chops, and beef. The Trump administration is really doing a number on our health.

Reuters reports that per capita consumption of pork will rise 4.3 percent, beef will rise 2.6 percent, and chicken will only rise 1.2 percent in the next year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Experts say the chicken industry won't be profitable this quarter after 27 straight quarters of growth. Given the choice of red meat (despite that "the other white meat" slogan, pork is red) and chicken with price no longer a factor, Americans are choosing red meat. Obviously, because we have taste buds.

Fast food chains are even debuting more hamburgers than usual, according to one analysis.

"The shift from chicken to beef and pork has been far more pronounced than anyone had imagined," a managing director at an investment firm told Reuters.

If those good deals we did with Mexico and Canada after the tariff war started are implemented, experts say the U.S. would get to export more pork and reverse this anti-chicken trend. In the meantime, go enjoy a Wendy's S'Awesome burger, which comes topped with three bacon strips and American cheese, on the president. And don't expect the nation's healthcare system to adequately support your failing cardiovascular system.

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