The agreement, announced on Sunday, will allow JBS to resume normal operations at the plant at a time when beef prices have set record highs due to strong demand from consumers and historically low U.S. cattle supplies.

JBS and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7 union resumed negotiations last week after nearly 3,800 employees went on strike to press for higher wages and a halt to company charges for replacing protective equipment. The union said it was the first time U.S. meatpacking workers had gone on strike in four decades.

“The strike worked,” Kim Cordova, president of UFCW Local 7, said on Monday.

The agreement secures wage increases over the next two years that were about 33 per cent higher than JBS offered in a pre-strike offer, according to the union. The deal also protects workers from having to pay for personal protective equipment and safeguards them against increases in healthcare costs, the union said.

Union to withdraw unfair labour practice charges

JBS said the deal was “within the economic framework” the company presented to the union months ago, though the union chose to reallocate pension contributions to wages.

“The strike at Greeley could have been avoided,” JBS said.

The meatpacker was pleased with the deal but “expressed disappointment that UFCW Local 7 leadership chose to eliminate the historic pension benefit that was part of the national agreement negotiated last year in partnership with UFCW International,” according to a statement.

Cordova said UFCW Local 7’s proposal was stronger than the national contract that unionized meatpacking workers at multiple other plants ratified with JBS last year.

As part of the deal with workers in Greeley, the union was withdrawing seven unfair labour practice charges against JBS, the company said.

Beef prices set records this year after the nation’s cattle inventory dropped to a 75-year low. Scarce supplies forced meatpackers to pay more for cattle to slaughter, even as processors benefited from the soaring beef prices.

Ranchers delivered cattle to other JBS plants during the strike at Greeley.

Rival meatpacker Tyson Foods closed a beef plant in Nebraska this year and reduced operations at a Texas facility.

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In a late night post on Truth Social, Trump said China was worried about a shortage of soybeans and he hoped it would quickly quadruple its soybean orders from the U.S.

“Rapid service will be provided. Thank you President XI,” Trump said in his post.

Markets respond

The most active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1 jumped 2.38 per cent to US$10.11 a bushel early Monday after Trump’s post. The contract was steady earlier.

China, the world’s largest soybean buyer, imported roughly 105 million metric tons last year, just under a quarter coming from the U.S. and most of the remainder from Brazil. Quadrupling shipments would require China to import the bulk of its soybeans from the U.S.

“It’s highly unlikely that China would ever buy four times its usual volume of soybeans from the U.S.,” said Johnny Xiang, founder of Beijing-based AgRadar Consulting.

Unclear if soy condition for tariff truce

A tariff truce between Beijing and Washington is set to expire on August 12, but the Trump administration has hinted that the deadline may be extended. It is unclear if securing China’s agreement to buy more U.S. soybeans is a condition for extending the truce as Trump looks to reduce China’s trade surplus with the U.S.

China’s soymeal futures DSMcv1 fell 0.65 per cent to 3,068 yuan per metric ton (C$588.75) on expectations U.S. imports could increase supply.

China’s Ministry of Commerce did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Under the Phase One trade deal signed during Trump’s first term, China agreed to boost purchases of U.S. agricultural products, including soybeans. However, Beijing fell far short of meeting those targets.

China looking elsewhere

This year, amid Washington–Beijing trade tensions, it has yet to buy any fourth quarter U.S. beans, fuelling concerns as the U.S. harvest export season approaches.

“On Beijing’s side, there have been quite a few signals that China is prepared to forego U.S. soybeans altogether this year, including booking those test cargoes of soymeal from Argentina,” said Even Rogers Pay, an agricultural analyst at Trivium China.

Reuters previously reported that Chinese feedmakers have purchased three Argentine soymeal cargoes as they aim to secure cheaper South American supplies amid concerns about a possible soybean supply disruption in the fourth quarter.

U.S. soybean industry has been seeking alternative buyers, but no other country matches China’s scale. Last year, China imported 22.13 million tons of soybeans from the U.S., and 74.65 million tons from Brazil.

— Additional reporting by Kevin Yao

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