One of the biggest meat producers in the U.S. is making contingency plans for its pork and chicken products as sweeping tariffs loom over its trading partners.
Tyson CEO Donnie King told analysts on an earnings call Monday that the company, which supplies Canada and Mexico with shipments of pork and certain chicken parts, has been "making adjustments" to its operation ahead of the planned tariffs, which took effect over the weekend but are currently paused.
"In terms of Mexico, the product that we have going in there, the concern, and what we've been contingency planning on is pork. We also have chicken – really, a couple of parts of chicken," King said. The company has a smaller amount of meat going into the Canadian market.
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President Donald Trump paused plans to implement 25% tariffs on both countries for 30 days to give them time to negotiate economic deals aimed at securing U.S. borders and curbing the flow of drugs, like fentanyl, into the country.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – who also paused plans to impose a 25% retaliatory tariff on U.S. imports – said on X that Canada will implement a $1.3 billion border plan and appoint a fentanyl czar. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to supply 10,000 troops on the border separating the U.S. and Mexico.
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"Essentially, what we would do, whether it be pork or whether it would be chicken, is we would find other markets," King said.
The Tyson CEO said the company has already been preparing for this and is making adjustments.
"We think we have risk-adjusted in our guidance the implications of all of those," King said.
