Chickity China the Chinese Chicken

This morning Trump decided to brag about his recent trade deal with China.

China just agreed that the U.S. will be allowed to sell beef, and other major products, into China once again. This is REAL news!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017

The problem is that our ignoramus-in-chief didn't know why China stopped importing US beef. On the surface it has to do with the Mad Cow outbreak in 2003. That might seem like it should have ended on its own 14 years ago, but there's more to the story.  Prior to that, there was a food-borne outbreak that lead to several deaths and was ultimately traced back to processed Chinese chicken imports. Each time the government considers lifting the ban on chicken imports, there is massive public outcry so it never happens. At least until now. Of course it's not just about diseases. This deal hurts US poultry producers. Take a look at this message from Tyson. Or this Barenaked Ladies song:

So why exactly would we agree to this? And was increasing beef exports the primary reason? Of course not. It had to do with Liquefied Natural Gas. The entire Trump Admin is heavily invested in energy companies and stands to make a pretty penny if energy prices begin to rise. With natural gas still sitting at record lows thanks to fracking, the only way to increase prices is to increase demand -- which means tapping a new market.

Enter China. China has been working hard to reduce coal consumption but needs a replacement energy source. They are the perfect buyers. But Xi refused to agree to the deal unless the US began taking Chinese chicken once again.

Appetizing?

I'd say check your food labels, but the Republicans eliminated Country of Origin Laws last year as the price to pass President Obama's 2016 budget.