China cancels 12,000 metric tons of US pork shipments

[nitpicked]

https://thehill.com/policy/international/5266321-china-cancels-us-pork-ships/

China canceled 12,000 metric tons of United States pork shipments amid a high-stakes trade standoff between the superpowers, according to data released Thursday.

China, one of the biggest U.S. trading partners, axed 12,000 metric tons of U.S. pork orders, the data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows.

The move represents the biggest cancellation of pork orders since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted supply chains and stalled economies around the world, Bloomberg News reported.

China, behind Mexico and Japan, was the U.S.’s third-biggest market for pork in 2024, importing some 475,000 metric tons valued at more than $1.1 billion.
(snip)

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Isn't that counterintuitive on China's part?

I thought Smithfield Foods was sold to China.
https://revealnews.org/article/how-china-purchased-a-prime-cut-of-americas-pork-industry/

Wouldn't that mean China is boycotting itself?

[Irish_Dem]

4. Yes but they will screw MAGA voters who work at the plant?

[littlemissmartypants]

5. Subtract...

12 from 475 and it's merely a gesture, posturing, a suggestion.

But if it makes President Psychopath look bad, who cares about China getting its feelings hurt? It surely won't lead to their financial ruin at that amount.

❤️

[Bernardo de La Paz]

25. It would be a mistake to assume that's all and not just be the first stoppage. . nt

[mdbl]

30. Maybe just biding their time

The campus also has a massive refrigerated warehouse larger than a football field. It houses something found only in China: a national pork reserve. Much as the U.S. government maintains a strategic oil reserve, China stashes away vast amounts of frozen pork in case of price inflation or war. The mammoth warehouse I was staring at housed 110 million pounds. It is one of the many pork-reserve warehouses that Shuanghui operates for the government across China.

[Jit423]

39. It's Americans who WORK in this industry in America. Not Chinese. nt

They have us by the (pig) balls.

[synni]

2. I can't handle all this winning!

I hope I don't need to insert the sarcasm smiley here....

[Javaman]

18. if this is winning, please give me some losing. nt

[riversedge]

3. whow!--That is a whole lot pig---cancelled.

[Baitball Blogger]

19. I would say hurrah for the pigs, who get a reprieve.

But you know farmers would slaughter them, instead of paying the cost to maintain them.

If it were me, I would find a way to release them on the White House lawn.

[LuvLoogie]

28. About 10 post-slaughter pigs per metric ton

I wonder if China only imports processed, packaged pork. Do they buy heads, feet, and organ meat too?

[riversedge]

31. I have no idea but my dad always made sure to package up the

organ meats every fall when he butchered the hogs and pigs.

We had a dairy farm in mid WI but since we sold grade A milk, the dairy cows had to be a certain distance from the pigs. So, we kids always had to walk about quarter mile or so down across the road to feed the pigs and check them out each day.

[dreamland]

32. Best parts of a delicacy is the feet, and organs

Pork tongue, pork ears, it's all delicious if you ever had it.

[LuvLoogie]

40. Mexicans make a pork recipe called carnitas.

It uses various cuts of pork and includes the skin and stomach. Cooked in a big vat of lard. Pigs blood will be cooked for tacos, too.

&ab_channel=EstiloSeveriano

[Hugin]

6. Does this mean that China has rejected a diplomatic visit from the Golden Manchild?

I didn’t read the article.

[gab13by13]

13. I will never click on The Hill.

[2naSalit]

7. Does that mean...

We'll be having fire sales on bacon and ribs?

[Old Crank]

9. You should be so lucky....

[MiHale]

12. When pigs fly!...oh wait...air mail bacon...🤔

Hey 2na!

[2naSalit]

16. Hey!

I was wondering where you were.

Of course, I was out of the office for a few days. Had started a journey but had to change plans, bad timing. Back at point A to reassess logistics and timing.

Are you getting the garden plots ready?

[MiHale]

21. Back to point A...good description...

The garden now is a mental refuge. Gotta get my carotid scooped out and the hospital runaround has been crazy. Started to go through my insurance…that’s where I lost my head for a minute…backtracked and now going through the VA Community Care.
I’ll post something in the Gardening forum later, things are moving very quickly. Outdoor beds are ready for their new occupants, greenhouse is getting filled up today.

[Javaman]

22. This just in...

"due to China canceling pork orders, all prices will now skyrocket, just because greed. that is all".

I remember reading about back in the Great Depression, farmers would burn wheat fields and dump their milk because prices were so low they couldn't make any profit. they couldn't even afford to take them to the nearest rail depot for transport.

at this rate we will be there again soon as bond rates continue to drop.

[DiverDave]

38. Worked at a place

In the '70s. Could get any steak or prime rib to eat.
Heaven for a teenage boy.
Then the "meat shortage". Ranchers just killed whole herds and buried them.
No more filet, hamburgers only.
Still filling the black hole of my appetite,
But, man, that was a bummer.

[UpInArms]

8. The howling from the pig farmers should be fun

There’s a Smithfield farm a mile away from me … I would be overjoyed if it shut down.

Iowa is full of pig farms … this could get interesting quickly.

[Auggie]

15. And the entire supply chain

Feed, seed and fertilizer, leftover/undersized crops purchased from other farmers, labor force, meat packing, etc.

[johnnyfins]

23. Maybe Joni can castrate a few thousand

On her own.

[Botany]

10. Maybe Israel can buy the pork?

Just asking.

Way to go Krasnov! Go ahead lose another market for American produced
products. The Europeans are canceling 10s of billions of dollars of American
made aircraft because they now see Krasnov as Putin’s ally who can’t be trusted.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/113349153

[rubbersole]

33. Bibi's Bargain Bacon Butt Barn...

[erronis]

34. I doubt bibi gives a real shit about religious dietary laws (or any laws at all.)

[Botany]

36. Bibi's B.B.Q. The Very Best in Pulled Pork.

Try our Tel Avi Rib Tibs.

[BoRaGard]

11. "Oink" - G.O.P.

[BumRushDaShow]

14. China owns... wait for it...

Smithfield Foods!

Needing Pork, China Is to Buy a U.S. Supplier

By Michael J. de la Merced and David Barboza May 29, 2013 7:51 am

8:49 p.m. | Updated

Demand for pork in China reflects its booming economy and rising middle class. But that rapidly growing appetite has strained its food production systems, leading to breakdowns and a number of food safety scandals. Now China’s biggest pork producer, seeking plentiful supplies and technical expertise, has agreed to buy Smithfield Foods, the 87-year-old Virginia-based meat giant with brands like Armour and Farmland, for $4.7 billion in cash.

If completed, the deal that was announced on Wednesday would be the biggest takeover of an American company by a Chinese concern. But it must first overcome skepticism in Washington — and a potentially close examination process by United States regulators. Both Smithfield and its suitor, Shuanghui International, said that they will submit the deal for review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or Cfius, a panel of government agencies tasked with clearing deals for national security.

Typically, the committee is concerned with acquisitions that involve technology or vital natural resources. The nation’s food supply chain is not specifically mentioned in its mandate, but the panel’s jurisdiction is considered broad. Among the deals it has reviewed and approved in recent months are the proposed takeover of Nexen Energy by a Chinese oil company and the proposed sale of control of Sprint Nextel to a Japanese telecommunications firm.

The committee may consider whether Shuanghui has ties to organizations like the Chinese army, as well as whether Smithfield’s customer rolls include sensitive information like the locations of secure military installations. “There’s a difference between a foreign company buying Boeing and one buying a hot dog stand,” said Jonathan Gafni, president of Compass Point Analytics, who was involved with the foreign investment committee when he was a deputy national intelligence officer. “But it depends on which corner the stand is on.” Still, he expects the deal to pass muster.

(snip)

Who’s behind the Chinese takeover of world’s biggest pork producer?

Sep 12, 2014 7:44 PM EDT

By
PBS News
Hour

Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork producer, was acquired by a Chinese firm in 2013 for nearly $5 billion -- more than the company’s market value. The surprising purchase caused some lawmakers to wonder if there might be a hidden player. As part of the series Food for 9 Billion, Nathan Halverson of the Center for Investigative Reporting examines how the Chinese government is involved.

(snip)

China "owns the means of production".

[littlemissmartypants]

17. It's an enormous operation. ...

That little bit will barely make a dent.

❤️

[BumRushDaShow]

24. It sends a message

that there can be more to come (since they own it).

China is playing the long game/squeeze play since we have effectively off-shored most of our production in the push for "free trade" (but cheaper labor to maximize profits).

(ETA - it's the infamous "Chinese water torture" )

[littlemissmartypants]

29. Exactly! ❤️

[GoCubsGo]

20. Wait until the farmers find out Trump won't give them another bailout.

Like the last time he pulled this shit during his previous term, and destroyed their markets. Fucking idiots.

[malaise]

26. FAFO

That isall

[JCMach1]

27. Pork Rib Summer upcoming

Of course may be the only thing on shelves.

[dreamland]

35. tRump woke the sleeping dragon

China is positioned to play the long game. Owning Smithfield farms is not relevant if they take a shortage of pork products since they won't have to worry about paying tariffs to bring over something they own. They have a pork reserve enough to wait a couple years. They made deals with other countries to pick up some of the pork slack. The heartlands are still in support of tRump, China recognizes that. They are now going to make tRump "lose face". This is just the start, soybeans is next if it hasn't been done. And oil will be too, there is less need for oil as they've been going EV and solar. TRump and MAGA screwed the US badly.

[Jit423]

37. Does this mean we will have cheaper barbeque ribs this summer? I just purchased two slabs. We go whole hog or none.

We love pork ribs and sauerkraut too with mashed potatoes. Pigs feet, chitterlings, liver, arm, and bacon and belly. It's been too high at the market so we stopped buying.

[littlemissmartypants]

41. My grandfather...

Used to raise and slaughter here on the farm. I still have the bench he made that he would carry to the enclosed area in the woods here that he would sit on. He'd have the feed bucket in one hand and the bench in the other.

I loved following him into the woods. The hogs were enormous. He had a special call for them. He would rest on his bench and smoke his pipe while I watched everything with rapt attention. I miss his sweet and patient ways. I still love him so much.

This was in the 1950s. I miss those simple, happy times even though we were really poor and everything was hard. We didn't get plumbing until 1971. I still remember pumping water for everything, working in the vegetable and flower gardens, bringing in the eggs every day and the smell of the smokehouse.

Going whole hog is an expression with broad implications.

❤️