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Impact of U.S. Tariffs on the Chicken Sector
The recent tariff measures threats announced by the United States are not expected to significantly impact the Canadian chicken sector. This is largely due to Canada’s supply management system, which ensures that Canadian producers do not rely heavily on exports and have limited trade with the U.S. in the sector.
However, Canada has long honoured its trade obligations, and our imports from the U.S. demonstrate how CUSMA (Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement) benefits both countries. For example, in 2024, Canada imported $1.1 billion CAD worth of chicken products, primarily from U.S. states like Georgia, making Canada the second most valuable market for US chicken exports.
Despite the initial intention to apply a 25% tariff on all goods, the U.S. announced on March 6 that products meeting CUSMA’s rules of origin will be exempt from the tariffs for the time being and additional tariffs are expected to take effect on April 2. Canada’s commitments under CUSMA guarantee that products meeting the agreement’s rules of origin—such as hatching eggs and feed ingredients—will not be subject to the 25% tariffs imposed by the U.S. on non-CUSMA-compliant goods. Chicken products exported to the US would classify as CUSMA compliant. However, the uncertainty remains for the expected US tariffs to be implemented on April 2 which are described by the US as reciprocal tariffs.
Retaliation Measures and Monitoring
In response to the U.S. tariffs, Canada has announced its own retaliatory tariffs. On March 4, 2025, Canada imposed 25% tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods, with additional tariffs covering $125 billion worth of goods scheduled to take effect in April 2025. These retaliatory measures are designed to match the U.S.’s tariff actions and could affect the availability and cost of essential poultry inputs such as feed ingredients, breeder chicks, and hatching eggs—key components that Canadian chicken farmers rely on for production.
If critical inputs like feed ingredients fall within the scope of Canada’s retaliatory tariffs, chicken farmers could face rising costs, which may impact production expenses and pricing.
In light of these potential impacts, Chicken Farmers of Canada (CFC) has been actively involved in advocating for the removal of specific tariff lines related to essential inputs. We emphasized the importance of excluding certain critical tariff lines from retaliatory measures to Finance Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. These include breeder chicks, broiler chicks, broiler hatching eggs, and breeder hatching eggs, which are vital for the operations of Canadian chicken farmers, as well as feed ingredients. The imposition of tariffs on these items could increase costs, disrupting production and negatively affecting the supply chain.
Furthermore, it is important to stay vigilant regarding potential additional retaliatory actions by the U.S. The U.S. has proposed reciprocal tariffs against countries that impose duties on U.S. products, which could affect Canadian chicken farmers if they target key imports from the U.S. These reciprocal tariffs could be implemented as early as April 2, 2025, and may further complicate trade for Canadian farmers.
