Egg Prices Are About to Get Even Higher
The Trump administration brought prices down by importing millions of eggs. Officials can’t answer simple questions about whether those eggs will be subject to substantial tariffs.

When Democrats attacked the Trump administration for the gargantuan price of eggs, the administration responded by importing vast quantities from Turkey and South Korea—two countries that were hit hard by the tariffs imposed on Wednesday.
When asked about the issue, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins had no definitive answer on whether those imported eggs would be tariffed, reinforcing the multiple contradictions at the center of Trump’s isolationist trade war in the process.
“President Trump yesterday gave you much praise talking about the job you’ve done in the last month and a half. I wanna talk about what you’ve done with eggs,” Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo asked Rollins on Thursday. “National egg prices have declined 9 percent from last week, now averaging $3 a dozen, according to the USDA. Secretary … are eggs gonna be tariffed?”
“Well, so, yeah let’s pivot to eggs.… Listen, we rolled out a very bold plan about a month ago.… Obviously it’s his vision we’re effectuating. The market reacted very favorably to it, [it] included some short-term imports but also included helping our poultry farmers in America,” Rollins answered, avoiding the question. “So as we repopulate our chicken farms and our egg-laying farms, I think we’ll see the price coming down even more.… Only good news on the egg front, and hopefully it will hold.”
"Yes, I mean, all to be determined, we're all in negotiations, but yes, that's a possibility" -- Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins can't definitively answer a question about whether imported eggs are being tariffed pic.twitter.com/DeQf55p14J
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 3, 2025
“So where are the eggs coming from that you’re importing?” Bartiromo asked.
“Well, we’re importing from Turkey, we’re importing from South Korea, to a few other countries right now,” Rollins responded. “But again, at the end of the day. once our farms are repopulated … then we’ll go back to pretty much using all American-lain eggs.”
“So then that means that eggs will be tariffed, if you’re taking them from Turkey, right? That’s part of the tariff plan,” Bartiromo pushed. There will be a 10 percent tariff on Turkey, according to Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement.
“Well, yes, all to be determined,” Rollins replied, refusing to commit. ‘We’re all at negotiations, but yes, that’s a possibility.”
Lower grocery prices—and lower prices in general—were a central theme of Trump’s campaign. Trump himself riffed on it at his “Liberation Day” announcement. But the new tariffs go directly against those promises, and even his inner circle are struggling to find a way to explain themselves.