(Bloomberg) -- A boost in China's sow herd means pork from the U.S. is an “easy target” amid escalating trade tensions between the nations.
Pork prices in China have dropped after hogs tumbled as much as 30 percent in the past three months, analysts at Vertical Group, a New York-based investment bank, said in a report. For the Asian nation, “the timing would be opportune for a ban on pork exports in more ways than one,” the report said.
China, the world's top pork consumer, is one of the leading buyers of U.S. agricultural goods and is the second-largest market for the meat by volume, industry data show.
The Trump administration is said to be weighing wide-ranging tariffs worth as much as $60 billion on Chinese products. Last month, people familiar with the matter said China was studying potential measures against U.S. exports of soybeans, used to feed hogs. Limiting imports of the oilseed isn't a “tenable long-term option,” Vertical Group said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Megan Durisin in Chicago at mdurisin1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Casey at scasey4@bloomberg.net, Patrick McKiernan, Millie Munshi
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