Friday, the U.S. imposed a 25 percent tariff on $34 billion of Chinese goods. Following that China retaliated with 25-percent duties on U.S. soybeans, pork, poultry, grain and numerous other products. U.S. pork producers are now hit with punitive tariffs of 62 percent on exports to China, a market that represented 17 percent of total U.S. exports by value in 2017. Minnesota Pork Producers President Greg Boerboom says there needs to be quick resolution to the trade war as the U.S. pork industry is dependent on international markets.
When combined with the Mexican duties, 40-percent of all American pork exports are under retaliatory tariffs, which is hurting hog prices and hitting producers in the pocket book.
Some Senate Republicans are planning to introduce a measure that would require Congress to sign off on any tariff decisions made by the President. Boerboom has mixed feelings about that approach to solving the trade war.
Iowa State University economists calculated that from early March when rumors of China’s retaliatory tariffs were circulating, through May, producers lost $18 per hog or more than $2 billion on an annualized basis.
