China Proposed A Tariff On US Pork. But The Largest US Producer Is Owned By A Chinese Company

As negotiators work to avoid the punitive tariffs China proposed against 128 U.S. products last week, commodity analysts have flagged a surprising wrinkle: One of the companies most harmed by the tariffs thus far is, in fact, Chinese.

Hong Kong-based WH Group dominates U.S. pork exports to China through its American subsidiary, Smithfield. The Chinese government has proposed a dramatic 25 percent tariff on U.S. pork products, 309,000 tons of which were shipped to China last year.

The proposed tariffs are part of an escalating standoff between the U.S. and China, sparked by President Trump’s March 22 announcement that he planned to impose tariffs on $60 billion of Chinese goods. Hours later, China proposed — but did not enact or provide a timeline for — retaliatory tariffs of its own, targeting products such as pork, wine and aluminum.

Source: To read the rest of the story, please go to: Washington Post