China cancels 12,000 metric tons of US pork shipments

[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.

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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.

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China "owns the means of production".