Brazil egg exports to US spike after bird flu, ahead of tariff
The U.S. turned to Brazil after bird flu reduced domestic egg supplies, raising prices and inflation. However, President Donald Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods, including eggs, on August 6.
In the first seven months of 2025, the U.S. was the main destination for Brazilian egg exports, with 18,976 tons shipped there in the period, representing a 1,419% rise and almost $41 million in sales, ABPA said.
Despite strong U.S. demand for egg imports, the tariff on Brazilian food imports, including coffee, beef, and eggs, risks reducing trade.
ABPA said it could not predict the impact of tariffs on the egg trade yet.
"There exists the possibility of maintenance of the (trade) flow, as North American demand remains high in the face of the shortage of the product," Ricardo Santin, head of ABPA, said in the statement.
Other major buyers of Brazilian eggs included Chile, Japan, and Mexico, the data showed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
23 minutes ago
- The Independent
We had one chance to sink the Russian economy and we blew it – Putin knew we would
In the weeks following Vladimir Putin 's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Europe 's leaders followed the trail blazed by Boris Johnson to Kyiv to express their undying support for the war effort. Each, in different ways, echoed the Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau's mantra that they would give Ukraine 'as much as it takes, for as long as it takes' to resist Putin. Johnson himself assured Volodymyr Zelensky that 'we are with you, and we are on your side' and vowed that Ukraine's right to 'choose its own destiny is a right that the United Kingdom and our allies will always defend'. Three years later, the successors of those leaders crowded into the White House's Oval Office to applaud Donald Trump's opening of direct talks with Putin. Despite the deaths of hundreds of thousands, and billions in military aid to Kyiv, Putin's forces continue to advance beyond the 20 per cent of Ukraine he now controls. His missiles rain nightly death on Ukraine's cities; Moscow's army launched 270 drones and 10 missiles at central Ukraine just hours after President Zelensky concluded peace talks at the White House. Though Putin's economy is floundering, it is by no means crippled. And while Putin has failed to subjugate the whole of Ukraine to his will, he is on course to accomplish many of his war aims, including the 'liberation' of the Russian-speaking region of the country and blocking Kyiv's membership of Nato. The West carries much of the blame for this failure. Oil and gas are the lifeblood of Russia's war machine – yet from the outset of the war, the US prioritised protecting steady world oil supplies over properly punishing Putin. Europe, too, has imposed 18 rounds of sanctions against Russia – yet itself has continued to find ways to import Russian oil, piped and liquefied gas (LNG), and refined oil products. A large proportion of Russia's oil exports are carried in tankers ultimately owned by EU – especially Greek – shipping companies. And the shocking truth is that over the course of the war, Europeans have paid far more into Kremlin coffers in the form of payments for oil and gas than they have given to defend Ukraine. Europe had one chance to sink the Russian economy and blew it. Since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has pocketed nearly €1 trillion from oil and gas. After China, the EU has been the second biggest buyer of Putin's gas, handing over €260bn. While the EU has repeatedly pledged to reduce its reliance on Russian gas, it has never actually placed any sanctions or price caps on it. Ironically, it was saboteurs rather than European governments that put the biggest dent in Gazprom 's revenues after three of the four Nord Stream undersea gas pipelines were blown up in September 2022. The culprits, according to arrest warrants issued by German police, were Ukrainians. But even after the Nord Stream sabotage, Europe quickly switched to Russian LNG exported from the Baltic terminals of Ust-Luga and Vysotsk. Over three years of war, European leaders have promised Kyiv their support is absolute, or 'your fight is our fight,' in the words of European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. But rather than cut off Putin's core revenues, the thing that could have really inflicted serious damage, Europeans have chosen legal workarounds. The price of crude oil legally exported by Russia was capped at $60 a barrel – an American strategy to keep oil flowing while squeezing Russian profits. In practice, though, millions of tonnes of Russian crude were fraudulently pumped from one tanker to another with 'clean' paperwork off the coasts of Denmark and Greece. At the same time, Lukoil, Russia's largest private oil company, continues to operate refineries in the Netherlands, Romania and Bulgaria, and can with perfect legality sell its own oil to itself at capped prices, but retail the products at normal market prices. Not wanting to make the crucial economic sacrifice that would accompany any real boycott, other European countries have opted for legal fig-leaves to disguise the true source of their energy. Hungary, Slovakia and other central European countries continue to import oil and gas via Russian pipelines – but it's labelled as coming from Kazakhstan. Amazingly, until 1 January 2025, Russian natural gas kept flowing through Ukraine's pipeline network — set up when Ukraine and Russia were both part of the Soviet Union – to Europe, under a five-year agreement. Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom earned money from the gas, and Kyiv collected hundreds of millions in fees for the transit of gas to Europe via pipelines running through Ukrainian territory into Slovakia. Those payments also made Gazprom one of the largest single contributors to Kyiv's state budget. The rest of southern Europe buys billions of piped gas via the Black Sea Turk Stream and Blue Stream pipelines that run from Russia to Turkey, but because it's mixed with gas from Azerbaijan, European customisers can claim they're buying from Baku, not Moscow. Europe now imports more refined Russian oil products than before the war, except that rather than buy directly, much of the petrol, diesel and aviation fuel is refined in India, which has more than doubled its imports of Russian crude and grown rich on the proceeds. Oil and gas are Putin's achilles heel. He needs his economy to survive to keep his war machine running. With the pressure of war, high interest rates and an economic slowdown, another year and he would be in significant problems which would make his negotiating position weaker. But still we cannot sever that vulnerable spot with an arrow because it's our achilles heel too. In Germany, a fateful electoral deal with a now long-departed Green coalition partner led to the closure of the country's nuclear power stations. That left Germany and its neighbours dangerously dependent on cheap Russian gas. Europe's pledges for net zero have also helped rob the continent of the excess energy capacity it would need to 'just say no' to its addiction to Putin's energy. The price for this refusal to countenance economic suffering for the sake of Ukraine has been paid by Ukrainians in blood. When Putin launched his war he was sure that Europe's talk of international law was hypocritical nonsense – not least because he remembered that in the aftermath of his 2014 invasion of Crimea, Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel swore that 'military aggression in Europe cannot go unpunished' and yet little more than a year later signed a €9.5bn deal to build a second Nord Stream pipeline. And though Putin has been undoubtedly surprised by the scale of Europe's military aid to Kyiv, ultimately he has been proved right about the fundamental hypocrisy. 'Ukraine must win this war,' Von Der Leyen boldly told the assembled European elites at the 2022 Davos conference. 'And Putin's aggression must be a strategic failure.' Though Ukraine has not exactly lost the war, it certainly has not won it. And by the same token, while Putin may have failed to dominate Ukraine, he has nonetheless succeeded in snapping up large chunks of it. If a peace deal is struck, it will be on Putin's terms. That outcome could have been very different if the actions of Ukraine's self-declared allies had been as bold as their words.
Daily Mail
24 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Ailing radio star declares bankruptcy after daughter lied that fling with Bachelor star had gotten her pregnant
A longtime Bay Area radio legend and his wife have declared bankruptcy as their daughter faces charges for allegedly lying that a former Bachelor star had gotten her pregnant with twins. Ronn Owens, 79, a longtime anchor at KGO, and his wife, Jan Black, submitted a chapter 13 filing to a federal court in Arizona last week, stipulating that they have $2.3 million in liabilities and owe over $511,000 to more than 40 banks, credit card companies and other creditors, The Mercury News reports. It comes eight months after Owens promoted an online fundraiser to raise money for his family, saying they were dealing with 'overwhelming' financial difficulties' amid his 'profound' health challenges. Black, a former reporter for KCBS, said the filing 'stands as objective evidence of the reality of our financial challenges and the necessity of the GoFundMe fundraiser,' which she said remains 'active and crucial as we work to restructure our finances and move forward.' As of Tuesday evening, it had raised more than $131,600 for the Owens family - with some even making monthly contributions. But the bankruptcy filing shows that a significant portion of Owens and Black's debt, more than $400,000, was incurred in the first half of this year - after the GoFundMe was launched. It describes how they owe $300,000 in credit card debt to creditors like American Express and seven separate Bank of America accounts, and notes that Ronn is being sued by JP Morgan Chase for failing to pay $51,000. The couple, who were once considered Bay Area media royalty, have also claimed they have $6,640 in monthly payments - not including their $14,188 monthly mortgage, which they apparently stopped paying. Yet their pensions and Social Security income, which totals $21,000 a month, more than covers their $150-a-month medical and dental care as well as their $225 supplemental health insurance. Owens and Black are also only paying $1,500 for life insurance and $425 for insurance on their daughter's horses. The couple should have also had some money from selling their longtime San Francisco home for $3.5 million in 2020, as the home they had purchased in Scottsdale, Arizona is now valued at $1.5 million. But the anonymous friends and family members who created the GoFundMe last year insinuated that the funds could help pay for health-related expenses. Owens has Parkinson's disease and survived four bouts of cancer. He also suffers from 'some serious heart issues,' according to The Mercury News. The fundraiser noted that Owens' medical struggles have since 'taken a toll, both physically and financially,' and the couple previously said that their supplemental health insurance does not cover all the 'residual' health care expenses following Owens' multiple health crisis, which also include COVID and pneumonia. They told The Mercury News earlier this year that Owens has spent up to six months in hospitals over the past few years, and when he returned home he needed an in-home caregiver. It now remains unclear how the couple may have used the money they received from the GoFundMe, as Black said that the pending bankruptcy litigation limits what they can share publicly. Still, she said the money 'has been a lifeline during a period that often felt hopeless. 'We truly do not know how we would have navigated these months without their support.' She also denied rumors that some of the money is being used to help fund their daughter Laura's legal expenses, which experts have said could run into six figures. Prosecutors have said the 34-year-old doctored a sonogram and pregnancy video, and even lied under oath, as she tried to get former Bachelor star Clayton Echard to take a paternity test. According to court documents, Laura testified in November 2023 that she was 24 weeks pregnant with twins and Echard was the father. But she dropped her paternity suit at the end of that year, saying she had miscarried at some point without knowing it. An online fundraiser had raised more than $131,600 for the Owens family - with some even making monthly contributions Court records in both Arizona and San Francisco show that Laura has previously made similar allegations against three other men since 2014, claiming each time she either had abortions or miscarriages. Echard's attorney, Gregg Woodnick, has since called Laura a 'serial fraud' in a court declaration. Still, the Owens family has stood by Laura's claim that she was pregnant with Echard's children - and insisted that she was pregnant each of the times she claimed she was. In a statement after she was indicted on seven felony counts of perjury, fraud, forgery and evidence tampering, Laura argued that the charges 'appear to be the product of intense public pressure, not impartial judgment. 'They reflect a system that responded to online outrage, ignored procedural protections, and moved forward based on narrative rather than fact,' she claimed. 'It is difficult not to see them as part of a broader effort to discredit me, discourage me, and make an example out of me,' it continued. 'I intend to meet these accusations head-on - and I will defend myself, fully and relentlessly, through every step of this process.' Reflecting on the allegations against her daughter amid the bankruptcy, Black blasted the Justice for Clayton community, saying its campaign against her and her husband 'has been relentless and deeply damaging.' She went on to say she and her husband have been forced to supplement their pensions and Social Security income with side ventures, but they have been 'significantly impacted by ongoing harassment and reputational attacks.' Having to file for bankruptcy has also been 'deeply intrusive and emotionally exhausting.' When Owens first promoted the online fundraiser in 2024, he also said it was difficult to 'admit that the financial strain has become overwhelming on top of everything else. 'For 48 years, I poured my heart into KGO, sharing stories, sparking conversations and connecting with you all,' he wrote. He added that he never imagined he would be in a position in which he would need to ask for help, 'but here I am asking for a little help from the community that has meant so much to me.'
Telegraph
24 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The tax traps Reeves must fix to grow the economy
It is no secret that Rachel Reeves is strapped for cash. Against a backdrop of rising inflation and weak growth, the Chancellor is staring down a black hole that some predict could be as high as £50bn. Worse still, some efforts to save money have already been killed off by Labour backbenchers, while bond market vigilantes have driven up Britain's borrowing costs to their highest level since the 1990s. That is without even taking into account the impact of Reeves's Budget tax raid last year, which has crushed business confidence and dampened investment. All of which means that the Chancellor is now scrambling for reforms that will boost the economy at minimal cost. Here are some of her options. Clean up the income tax trap The top rate of income tax is supposed to be 45pc, but for those earning between £100,000 and just over £125,000, it is in effect 60pc. That is because workers in this bracket lose the tax-free allowance, which applies to the first £12,570 of pay for workers on lower incomes. As a result, it can appear rather unattractive to earn more if most of this extra income will be taken by the taxman. 'Where we have these kinks in the income tax schedule, those will tend to act as a disincentive to people to work more – I might not want to take that promotion, or I might want to go four days a week,' says Isaac Delestre, at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). Scrapping this baffling tax quirk would help ease the pain. Smooth out benefits Losing child benefit can see families' effective tax rate rise to almost 60pc. This applies when one parent in a three-child household earns between £60,000 and £80,000. Believe it or not, that is an improvement on the old situation. Before Conservative reforms, a family with three children faced a tax rate of more than 70pc. Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor at the time, called the system 'confusing and unfair'. Following changes introduced by the Tories, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) calculated reforms would encourage parents to work more hours, amounting to the equivalent of an extra 10,000 full-time jobs. However, perhaps the most egregious tax trap applies to adults with young children. The Government has ramped up subsidies for childcare in recent years to try to get more parents back to work. Yet for a cohort of highly productive workers, the way the system operates can be an enormous disincentive to seek out a promotion or put in extra hours. That is because the support schemes are withdrawn entirely once one parent's taxable income rises above £100,000. It means an extra penny of earnings can cost a family with two young children £14,500 in disposable income, according to the IFS. The think tank estimates that their disposable income – after tax and childcare – will not recover to its previous level until the parent earns £134,500. These parents have an enormous incentive to cut their taxable income, whether by pouring money into their pension to reduce their taxable income or by cutting the number of days they work each week. Turning the cliff edge into a smooth slope might cost the Treasury money, but would no doubt ease families' worries. Ramp up VAT Companies face similar cliff edges. Small businesses have to register for VAT when their turnover hits £90,000. That creates a huge incentive to stay below that threshold. Businesses and sole traders often stop earning once they edge closer to the limit as they seek to avoid the threat of introducing a 20pc tax on sales. Whether that means working only four days a week or closing for a month to keep takings down, it undermines growth in their business and the wider economy. The Conservatives cited this 'bunching' as a reason to raise the threshold from £85,000, but that just shifted the problem instead of abolishing it. Slashing the threshold would be a blow to small businesses and their customers, but might encourage more growth in the long term by removing it as a barrier altogether. That was the argument of the Resolution Foundation when it was run by Torsten Bell, now a Treasury minister. The think tank previously called the high threshold 'a tax on growth', claiming that: 'The best outcome would be lowering it to the point where almost no business owner would consider the option of deliberately staying below that level of turnover.' Cutting it to £30,000 could raise £1.5bn for Reeves. Cut stamp duty To say that reform of property tax is overdue is an understatement. The IFS has described council tax, which is still based on valuations from 1991, as 'out of date, regressive and distortionary'. The think tank has also branded stamp duty one of Britain's most hated taxes because it penalises people for moving. Back in 1988, a typical homeowner moved house every nine years, according to property website Zoopla. In the first six months of 2022, the gap was 21 years. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has previously urged the UK to move away from 'transaction taxes which constrain housing and labour mobility'. Instead of a property sales tax, the Fund suggested adopting a new annual levy based on land or property values – a system some argue this would be fairer. After all, the average London house price is now more than seven times what it was in 1991, compared with a four-fold increase in the North East, according to the Office for National Statistics. At the same time, the distribution of central government funding to local authorities is still based on property values in 1991. This effectively means councils in Newcastle must now levy more tax on a property worth £250,000 than in Kensington and Chelsea to deliver essentially the same on valuations. However, as the think tank points out, any major revaluation would produce winners and losers. Back in 2020, the IFS suggested that a simple revaluation that reflected relative increases in property values would hit homeowners primarily in London and the South East. Back then, it said residents in Hackney and Wandsworth could see increases in their bills of up to 45pc, while people living in Fylde near Blackpool could see a 15pc reduction. A more radical reform that linked bills proportionally to a property's value could see bills in Stoke-on-Trent slashed in half. But it would also see bills quadruple in Kensington and almost double in parts of Surrey. There was a reason that Margaret Thatcher backed away from a poll tax. ... and planning red tape It is not just moving house that matters. Building them would boost the economy too. That is why bats and newts are high up on Reeves's hit list. The Chancellor has repeatedly grumbled about the many obstacles to getting things built in Britain, telling the House of Lords economic affairs committee last month that she cares 'more about getting a young family on the housing ladder than I do about protecting some snails'. She has a point. In a now infamous example, the chairman of the HS2 rail line admitted it was spending £100m on a shield to protect bats in ancient woodland in Buckinghamshire. Sir John Thompson said this was just one example of 8,276 'consents' required from public bodies, and expressed frustration at red tape across the UK. Reeves also knows there is a big prize on offer if she manages to reduce bureaucracy. The OBR said Labour's planning reforms were already expected to drive an increase in housebuilding of 170,000 homes until the end of the decade, which would in turn increase Britain's medium-term growth prospects by 0.2pc. Reeves has since ordered officials in the Treasury to go further. Prepare for more red tape to be slashed.
