'No way to stop it': millions of pigs culled across Asia as swine fever spreads

[RockRaven]

5. China is by far the largest pork consumer on the planet. The tariff issue just became

a lot more interesting and complicated. As you point out, all those countries in the region may be looking to import pork, which may help out US farmers by giving hog producers an expanded market... but the China angle is particularly interesting...

How will the Xi/CCP react to this vis-a-vis American imports. Will they prioritize a) not showing weakness to Trump or b) domestic stability? Domestic stability is usually the top priority, and pork is an important staple, somewhat equivalent to the position beef holds in the US. Large price increases and/or scarcity will cause unease amongst the public for one reason and government officials because of the former.

We could sell more hogs directly to China if they're willing to look like they are weak to Trump,
or we could sell more feed to Country A so they can sell more hogs to China,
or we could sell more hogs to Country B so they can sell more of their own domestic hogs to China
or we could sell more hogs to Country C so they can falsely relabel them as their own and sell them to China...