LETTER: Who will Ebrahim Patel blame when chicken prices hit the roof?
Since my last letter to the editor (“Chicken dumping really just a red herring (../2021-03-30-letter-chicken-dumping-really-just-a-red-herring/)”, March 30) protectionist minister Ebrahim Patel has asked the International Trade Administration Commission (Itac) to review poultry tariffs with the aim of including antidumping duties.
Of great relevance is the fact that poultry tariffs were increased by huge margins in 2020, resulting in a massive drop in imports. Part of this could be Covid-related, but the jury is still out. In addition, Itac is investigating dumping claims against five countries. This investigation likely has about 16 more months to run. Taken together with other industries, we are seeing tariff diktat gone mad, in true megalomaniacal fashion. This is the longest-running farce in the history of taxpayer-funded tariffs on basic foods...
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