Trump pushes chemically treated meat: Will the UK sacrifice food standards for a better trade deal?

The UK government is being pressured to reject calls to negotiate on its food standards following an announcement by the US White House that its recently introduced tariff measures, which levy 10% on all British imports, are partly predicated on the UK’s ban on certain chicken and beef products. 

According to an official White House fact sheet released alongside President Donald Trump’s full tariff announcement, these standards, including bans on chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-treated beef, negatively impact the US meat industry. 

“The UK maintains non-science-based standards that adversely affect US exports of safe, high-quality beef and poultry products,” reads the statement. 

“This is because our trading partners pursue intentional policies of consumption-reduction (wage suppression and labor, environmental, and regulatory arbitrage) to gain an unfair trade advantage over the US. This, in turn, contributes to our large and persistent trade deficit.” 

The UK’s policies on chemically treated meats stem from a long campaign backed by the British public, which concluded in 2020, to ensure food imports meet the same standards required of British farmers. 

However, following the White House statement, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that “all options remain on the table” as the “world as we know it has gone.” 

Whether this means F&B import requirements will be up for negotiation has not been revealed. UK Business Secretary Jonothan Reynolds announced a May 1 deadline for reaching a new tariff deal. The UK Department for Business and Trade had no further comment at the time of writing. 

What’s on the negotiating table? 

US farmers produce fresh chicken at 79% of the price of equivalent birds in the UK.UK National Farmers Union (NFU) president Tom Bradshaw remarks: “The US government’s stance on non-tariff trade barriers with the UK is deeply concerning. It reinforces fears that the US administration is pressuring the UK government to weaken its Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) standards as a concession for lower tariffs or as part of a new trade deal. This could lead to imports of products that would be illegal for our farmers to produce domestically.” 

The UK Food Standards Authority tells Food Ingredients First that any changes to SPS legislation would require fresh risk analysis by food safety authorities. 

At an NFU conference in February, Defra Secretary of State Steve Reed said: “We will never lower our food standards in trade agreements. British farming deserves a level playing field where you can compete and win, and that is what you’ll get. We will use the full range of powers to protect our most sensitive sectors.”

Some British leaders have expressed support for capitulating to US demands on food to carve out a better deal. Last week, the British Reform Party leader Nigel Farage, a longtime supporter of President Trump, suggested that the government use this point of contention as a bargaining chip. 

Farage told BBC Radio 4: “There’s been some concern about chlorine-treated chicken, but there is an answer, which is to label things — let consumers decide.” 

“This shouldn’t be just about avoiding tariffs — it should be a broader deal. I would allow consumers in America to buy our products and consumers here to buy their products, and provided we have the right labeling, that’s good.”

Protecting quality and profits 

Industry bodies say that any sacrifice on food quality assurances would require undercutting British farmers, regardless of consumer choice. 

Chlorinating chicken can mask poor hygiene and welfare conditions in the supply chain. Growth hormones fed to US beef also present health risks to consumers and have been linked to endocrine disruption and cancers. 

In a OnePoll survey of the British public in 2024, 87% of respondents said it is important that trade deals ensure animal welfare standards are the same in countries we import food from as those in the UK.

In 2020, one million people signed the NFU’s petition to safeguard British food standards, which resulted in the government creating the Trade and Agriculture Commission.

“British farmers and growers uphold some of the highest standards in the world, taking great pride in their commitment to animal welfare, food safety, and environmental standards from farm to fork. The public has shown time and time again that they want the beef, pork, and chicken they buy produced responsibly and not using methods that were rightly banned in the UK decades ago,” says Bradshaw at NFU. 

“Ministers have consistently pledged to protect British farmers and uphold the UK’s high standards for food safety, animal welfare, and environmental protection in all future trade negotiations. We will continue working with the government to ensure these commitments are upheld and standards are not compromised.”