US Pres. Trump will order meat processing plants to stay open amid coronavirus fears – Reuters

Early Wednesday morning in Asia, Reuters came out with the news suggesting that US President Donald Trump plans to order meat processing plants facing concerns about coronavirus outbreaks to stay open to protect the country’s food supply, a senior administration official said on Tuesday.

Key quotes

Trump is likely to sign an executive order later in the day using the Defense Production Act to mandate that the plants continue to function, the official said.

The order will also include guidance to minimize risk to workers who are especially vulnerable to the virus, the official said.

The order is tied closely to the meat processing issue.

The senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said if the action were not taken, the vast majority of processing plants could have shut down for a period of time, reducing meat supply capacity in the United States by as much as 80%.

Administration officials and some Republicans on Capitol Hill have said that businesses that are reopening need liability protection from lawsuits employees might file if they become sick.

FX implications

While the news failed to provide any clear market reaction, this shows the US President’s readiness to re-open the economy and increases the optimism. Even so, Wall Street benchmarks and the US treasuries fail to portray the risk-on sentiment following the release.