Tyson CEO assesses potential impact of China trade deal

A recently announced trade deal between the United States and China may not have a huge impact on Tyson Foods, the company’s CEO said.

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Tom Hayes | Tyson Foods
Tom Hayes | Tyson Foods

A recently announced trade deal between the United States and China may not have a huge impact on Tyson Foods, the company’s president and CEO said.

As a result of recent trade negotiations between the U.S. and China, preliminary agreements have been reached that would allow U.S. beef to be exported to China and Chinese cooked chicken products to be exported to the United States.

Tom Hayes, president and CEO of Tyson Foods, while speaking on May 17 during the BMO Capital Markets 12th Annual Farm to Market Conference, said company officials have discussed the deal’s possible impact, but at the moment, it doesn’t appear it will greatly affect the company’s profitability.

Imports of cooked chicken from China

Hayes said that the prospect of the U.S. importing cooked chicken from China could have a negative effect on Tyson Foods, but if that is the case, the difference made should be minimal.

“It depends on how the consumer reacts to cooked chicken from China,” said Hayes. “Our thoughts are that there is probably not going to be a huge consumer pull for that. We’ll see what happens.”

Perhaps the biggest change in store for the chicken industry is that other countries that do not allow cooked chicken from China to be imported could also consider opening trade if it learns the U.S. deemed Chinese chicken safe.

Tyson Foods, a U.S. company, also has poultry operations in China.

Beef trade

Since Tyson Foods is also in the beef processing business, Hayes indicated the opening of beef trade could be beneficial to the company, but he said Tyson's outlook likely “won’t change dramatically.” Nonetheless, the company welcomes the potential opportunities.

“Anything that is helpful to create more domestic disappearance, we’re all about it. We’re going to be certainly supportive,” Hayes said.

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