Egg Prices Hit Record High — Days After Trump’s Claim They Were ‘Down 79%’
AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File
On Monday, President Donald Trump bragged that egg prices were “down 79%.” On Thursday, the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that was not true.
Trump’s comments on Monday complained about the press asking about eggs having “quadrupled in price,” and then claimed that his administration “did a great job” and now “eggs are down now 79% and they’re all over the place,” possibly referring to shortages caused by bird flu issues.
The new CPI report released Thursday showed that eggs had hit a record high price in March: $6.27 for a dozen grade-A large eggs. That is up from $5.90 in February and represents a 5.9% increase, helping drive the overall rise in the food at home index that the agency tracks.
Screenshot via U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
As Rolling Stone’s Nikki McCann Ramirez pointed out, the sweeping tariffs imposed by Trump could post a challenge for the White House’s hopes that the prices will improve. After Trump’s second term began, his administration sought agreements to increase imports of eggs to help increase supplies devastated by the bird flu and bring down prices, and it did in fact help wholesale prices. But the decrease in wholesale prices, which are charged to distributors, did not pull down retail prices, which are charged to consumers. In fact, the retail price of eggs has continued to rise.
Moreover, despite Trump’s 90-day pause on some of the tariffs, the baseline 10% tariff remains and would be affecting eggs along with other imports.
One bright spot: the egg supply has noticeably improved in recent months. Grocery stores are forecasting there will be “plenty of eggs available for Easter and Passover later this month, CBS News reported.
