A chicken on an Iowa poultry farm in the United States. Photo illustration. – SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP
The American Secretary of Agriculture, Lost sonny, on Monday called on Europeans to reconsider their decision to ban imports of
chlorinated chicken and of
hormone beef, at a time when Brussels and Washington are trying to weaken their trade relations.
This demand is expected to surge in some member states, where fears that food produced according to American health standards would be imposed on their consumers triggered mass protests in 2015, notably in Germany, Austria and France.
The threat of punitive taxes on European cars
It follows the threat of the American president Donald Trump to impose punitive taxes on European cars if Brussels and Washington do not advance in their trade discussions, decided in July 2018, which block on the question of agriculture.
Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced last week in Davos that they would reignite these discussions and promised to meet in the coming weeks. Ursula von der Leyen to travel to Washington soon to meet with the President again.
The condition to revive transatlantic trade relations?
Donald Trump “loves his farmers very much,” Sonny Perdue said Monday in a meeting with journalists after an interview with EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan and Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski in Brussels. And the transatlantic trade relationship could improve if the EU, which bans the import of poultry treated with chlorine dioxide, were more open to this packaging method, he said.
Europe could thus contribute to rebalancing the annual American trade deficit on agricultural products which he says amounts to 10-12 billion dollars (about 10 billion euros).
“Not chlorine”, but “vinegar”?
The claim that American chickens are cleaned with chlorine is a “misconception,” said Sonny Perdue. ” You know what it is ? It’s vinegar, basically, “he said, blasting the” bashing “of American poultry production.
The White House cabinet member also mentioned hormone-treated beef as another element to improve EU-US relations, stressing that the food safety hazards of these products were exaggerated or not demonstrated by science.
Phil Hogan recalled last week at Davos heavy pressure in Donald Trump’s Republican Party to include agriculture in trade negotiations. “If they want to break the deadlock in agriculture, we are ready to address the issue of regulatory cooperation, non-tariff barriers,” he added.
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