‘It's everything': 5-year-high pork cancellation signals China weaning off US farm goods

After cancelling record orders of US pork amid a raging trade war, China is ready to further cut back on US agricultural imports, analysts said.
Advertisement
Last week, Chinese importers withdrew orders for 12,030 metric tonnes of American pork – the largest cancellation since May 2020, early in the Covid-19 pandemic – according to US Department of Agriculture figures.
Analysts expect American pig farmers to feel the pinch, despite most not relying exclusively on the Chinese market, and producers of other agricultural goods to share a bigger burden in the trade war.
'This is a targeted response from China to hurt parts of the [US] that are red,' said Dexter Roberts, a US-based senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank's Global China Hub.
Most American farm states are considered Republican-leaning, and voted for US President Donald Trump in last November's election.
Advertisement
'People are very aware of this and very worried,' Roberts said. 'One bad year and you might be mortgaging the farm.'

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

South China Morning Post

27 minutes ago

• South China Morning Post

Trump muses about regime change in Iran after US strikes

US President Donald Trump on Sunday signalled support for a change in leadership in Iran, hours after his officials said that the US operation targeting Iranian nuclear facilities overnight was not about a regime change in Tehran. Advertisement 'It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change???' Trump stated on his Truth Social platform. Earlier on Sunday, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told journalists at the Pentagon that the overnight strike on the nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow was carried out to eliminate the threat to US interests posed by Iran's nuclear programme, not to bring about regime change in Tehran. 'The president authorised a precision operation to neutralise the threats to our national interests posed by the Iranian nuclear programme and the collective self-defence of our troops and our ally Israel,' Hegseth said. 01:23 China urges de-escalation of Iran conflict, hits out at US and Israel China urges de-escalation of Iran conflict, hits out at US and Israel US Vice-President J.D. Vance also emphasised that Iran's nuclear programme was the target. 'We are not at war with Iran, we are at war with Iran's nuclear programme,' he told NBC on Sunday.

RTHK

4 hours ago

• RTHK

Iran vows payback as Trump hints at regime change

Iran on Sunday threatened US bases in the Middle East after massive air strikes that Washington said had destroyed Tehran's nuclear programme, though some officials cautioned that the extent of damage was concern focused on fears that the unprecedented US attacks would deepen conflict in the volatile region after Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran earlier this Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said bases used by US forces could be attacked in retaliation."Any country in the region or elsewhere that is used by American forces to strike Iran will be considered a legitimate target for our armed forces," he said in a message carried by the official IRNA news agency."America has attacked the heart of the Islamic world and must await irreparable consequences."US President Donald Trump urged Iran to end the conflict after he launched surprise strikes on a key underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, along with nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz."We had a spectacular military success yesterday, taking the 'bomb' right out of their hands (and they would use it if they could!)" he said on social while the US president did not directly advocate regime change in the Islamic republic, he openly played with the idea -- even after his aides stressed that was not a goal of American intervention."It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. "But if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!"RTHK's Washington correspondent, Simon Marks, said Trump's remarks were certain to spark more speculation about his steps."But all of this... raises a massive question, which is, to what extent is Donald Trump committed to moving forward, possibly with more military action or committed to trying to foment some kind of change on the ground in Tehran?" He told RTHK's Hong Kong Today programme "Certainly, that's what (Israeli) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been trying to do from Israel over the course of the last week. But the Americans have been holding back from that. Now, tonight, perhaps Donald Trump is flirting with the idea of adopting that position."Netanyahu, meanwhile, said his country's military strikes will "finish" once the stated objectives of destroying Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities have been achieved."We are very, very close to completing them," he told Iran's leaders struck defiant tones, President Masoud Pezeshkian also vowed that the United States would "receive a response" to the Khamenei adviser, Ali Shamkhani, said in a post on X that "even if nuclear sites are destroyed, game isn't over, enriched materials, indigenous knowledge, political will remain."Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that craters were visible at the Fordo facility, but no one had been able to assess the underground added that attacks on nuclear facilities could cause radiation leaks, but the IAEA had not detected any. (Additional reporting by AFP)

RTHK

4 hours ago

• RTHK

Local stocks fall while oil prices spike

Local stocks fall while oil prices spike Local and mainland stocks have fallen, while oil prices jumped to their highest level since January. File photo: RTHK The Hang Seng Index fell 194 points or 0.83 percent to open at 23,335 points on Monday. Mainland stocks also opened lower, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.31 percent to open at 3,349 points. The Shenzhen Component Index opened 0.55 percent lower at 9,950 points. Meanwhile, oil prices jumped on Monday to their highest level since January as the United States' weekend move to join Israel in attacking Iran's nuclear facilities stoked supply worries. Brent crude futures was up US$1.92 or 2.49 percent at US$78.93 a barrel as of 0117 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude advanced US$1.89 or 2.56 percent to US$75.73. Iran is OPEC's third-largest crude producer. (Agencies)