President Donald Trump on Tuesday will sign an executive order declaring meat processing plants critical infrastructure, he confirmed at the White House on Tuesday.
“We are, we’re going to sign an executive order today,” Trump said when asked about the report from Bloomberg News about his forthcoming order.
The president will use his authority under the Defense Production Act to enforce the order, a person familiar with the upcoming order confirmed to Breitbart News. Trump plans to use the Defense Production Act to order the companies to stay open but will also provide protective gear for employees as well as guidance for how to keep their companies safe to operate.
The president told reporters he was working with Tyson Foods and would sign an executive order to solve liability problems that the food processing companies were facing.
“We’ll probably have that today solved,” Trump said. “It was a very unique circumstance because of liability.”
Meat processing plants in several states recently announced plans to close their factories during the coronavirus pandemic, as infections break out in their plants. Smithfield Foods, Cargill, JBS USA, and Tyson Foods suspended operations at about 20 slaughterhouses and processing plants in North America since April, according to CNBC.
That threatens livestock producers who cannot sell their animals and also provide a steady supply of meat to grocery stores.
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