Trafficking from Canada to the United States is growing. All due to a wave of avian influenza

At the border crossing point in Detroit, which passes the largest part of the smuggling of eggs from Canada, the size of the detected smuggling increased in this fiscal year, as of October 2024, by 36% compared to the same period last year, according to the public broadcaster CBC.

According to data collected by CBC journalists in Windsor, Ontario, so close Detroit, a twelve eggs at Walmart store cost $3.93 Canadian. In Walmart, but in Michigan, a twelve of the same eggs cost about $8.50 Canadian equivalent. There are besides towns, as the CityNews Vancouver broadcast, where for a twelve eggs you gotta pay the equivalent of over 12 Canadian dollars.

Avian influenza epidemic

According to calculations by the U.S. Ministry of Agriculture, 30 million laying hens were euthanized by this bird flu. large American chicken farms number up to a fewer million hens in 1 place. In Canada, chicken farms are smaller, with about 25,000 laying hens, and long distances make bird flu not easy transmitted.

Canadian media recalled that Donald Trump promised after the election that on the first day of office he would lower egg prices. In February, after Trump's first period of office, egg prices were 59 percent higher than in February 2024.

Canada is the largest exporter of eggs to the USA. Global News tv reported that according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the import of eggs, not just chicken, from Canada to the U.S. was worth $54.2 million and accounted for about 42 percent of the full imports of eggs to the US. However, she explained Global News, in 2024 and 2023 Canadian farmers did not export chicken eggs to the US for sale in stores.