PORKY REVENGE

China retaliatory tariff socks sows & Dow

CHINA HAS A beef with the U.S. — and it’s taking it out on pork.

Beijing announced sweeping tariffs on more than 120 U.S. food products Monday, including a 25% levy on frozen pork, in retaliation for the ones President Trump imposed on foreign steel and aluminum.

“We’re hopeful that the U.S. and China can move and successfully resolve their trade difference,” Jim Monroe, a spokesman for the National Pork Producers Council, told the Daily News. “Any time we see a restriction, it’s not a good thing for us.”

U.S. farmers awoke to some glum news, as China raised import tariffs on about $3 billion in goods.

Also subject to increased tariffs are apples, walnuts, almonds, steel pipe for gas and oil, grapes and other dried or fresh fruits.

Despite the budding food fight, China’s move wasn’t seen as a major retaliation because the levies didn’t hit major imports like soybeans.

Economist Taimur Baig with DBS Group noted the sanctions are “not very substantial” in the grand scheme, because the U.S. still ships $150 billion worth of goods to China, including $20 billion in food supplies.

“We’re in a trade slap-fight right now,” not a trade war, agreed Derek Scissors, resident scholar and China specialist at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

The Dow sank over 750 points during the day Monday, however, amid growing concerns about escalation of tensions between the two countries. The index closed down 458 points, or 1.8%, while the Standard & Poor’s fell by 2.2%. U.S. pig farmers last year sent $1.1 billion in pork to China, the second biggest market after Japan, Monroe told The News. He declined to speculate on what the financial impacts might be, hoping the tariffs won’t last long enough to hurt pig farmers’ bottom line. “There’s no doubt about it that exports are critical to our industry,” he said. It’s not clear how the tariffs might impact companies like Smithfield Farms, a U.S.-based company that’s Chinese owned. “Depending on how much less buying there is, it’ll impact producers,” said David Salmonsen, senior director for congressional relations at the American Farm Bureau Federation.

“It’ll come down to farmers, it’ll come down to producers,” he continued. “They’ll take the hit at some point.”

The President has made himself an ally of the agricultural industry, as he’s branded several trade agreements unfair to the U.S.

Trump’s approval among rural voters has dipped since he took office – from 68% to 55% between February 2017 and last week, according to Reuters-Ipsos polling. Trade groups representing farmers have declined to blame the White House for wrapping agriculture into the trade battle.

“I believe there is” still confidence in the Trump administration, Salmonsen told The News. “What the industry really wants is get these kind of things resolved.”