U.S. is busting more people with prohibited eggs at the Canadian border

As egg prices soar to record highs in the U.S., Customs and Border Protection is catching more people crossing the northern border with prohibited Canadian eggs in tow.

Because of the ongoing Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreak ravaging the U.S. poultry industry, doing so is “generally prohibited,” the CBP told the National Post.

Between October 2024 and February 2025 at the Detroit-Windsor crossing, for instance, the field office has witnessed a 36 per cent increase in “interceptions of eggs” compared to the same time last year. The agency avoids using the term “smuggling” because most of the confiscated eggs are declared and surrendered freely without consequence.

But like fentanyl, the amount intercepted at the northern border pales in comparison to that seized at the U.S.-Mexico border. Last week, the San Diego Field Office noted a 158 per cent increase in interceptions since the 2024 fiscal year, and officers at the El Paso office have come across “more than 90 people attempting to import raw eggs from Mexico” since January. Nationally, the agency said interceptions are up 29 per cent at all ports of entry.

On the heels of an 8.4 jump in December, the price of retail eggs in the U.S. rose 13.8 per cent in January, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the agency predicts a 41 per cent increase this year. Farm-level egg prices, meanwhile, are anticipating an 82.6 per cent growth.

An egg economy exists between Canada and the U.S., one that saw Canada export US$44 million worth of eggs in 2023 according to Observatory of Economic Complexity. Those imports will now be subject to the 25 per cent tariff instituted by U.S. President Donald Trump as of Tuesday, meaning higher prices for American buyers.