Trump planning to order meat plants to stay open
WASHINGTON – Faced with worries of a meat shortage caused by the coronavirus, President Donald Trump plans to order meat processing plants to remain open and will try to protect them from legal liability, officials said Tuesday.
Trump plans to declare meat plants as critical infrastructure and will cite the Defense Production Act to justify an order to keep them open, said two officials familiar with the discussions, speaking on condition of anonymity because the order is not yet completed.
Trump also said he would issue an executive order to shield meat plants from legal liability if they are sued by employees who contract coronavirus while on the job. While Trump only mentioned Tyson Foods specifically, he suggested his order would protect other businesses from liability as well.
The order would be designed to protect businesses in court if they are sued, but would likely be challenged in court. Judges would ultimately decide whether coronavirus lawsuits against businesses can go forward.
Concerns about the nation’s meat
“There will be limited supply of our products available in grocery stores until we are able to reopen our facilities that are currently closed.” John Tyson Board chairman, Tyson Foods
supply have been growing, as the number of meat packing facilities shuttered due to coronavirus outbreaks has accelerated over the past several weeks.
More than 4,400 meatpacking workers have tested positive for the virus, and at least 18 have died from the virus as of Tuesday morning, according to USA TODAY/Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting tracking. Workers have tested positive in at least 80 plants in 26 states, and there have been 28 closures of at least a day.
USA TODAY also found that 153 of the nation’s largest meatpacking plants, about 1 in 3 operates in a county with a high rate of COVID-19 infection, raising concerns that more workers at more plants will fall ill.
In a full-page newspaper ad over the weekend, Tyson Foods board Chairman John Tyson said “the food supply chain is breaking,” and “there will be limited supply of our products available in grocery stores until we are able to reopen our facilities that are currently closed.”
Some plant employees have told reporters that Tyson did not adequately protect them from the virus, setting up the prospect of lawsuits.
Supply chain experts have mostly said a significant domestic meat shortage is unlikely, due to the large number of processing plants and resulting resiliency. But those assurances are being tested by steadily dropping production numbers from the nation’s meatpacking plants.
Department of Agriculture data shows at least 838,000 fewer cattle, hogs and sheep were slaughtered for meat processing over the past week compared with the same time period last year, a 28% drop. Tuesday marked the worst day yet, with total slaughter falling 39% compared with the same day last year.
While some have offered assurances that the nation’s “cold storage,” or the amount of meat frozen in commercial warehouses, could act as a stopgap should production plummet, data indicates a limited supply.