When China raised its tariff on U.S. pork in April 2018, it sent producers scrambling to replace the lost export sales. A year later, the scramble paid off, as U.S. producers replaced a big chunk of the lost sales by striking deals with smaller markets, according to an analysis by Reuters.
“As American farmers pin their hopes for a trade deal on Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s agreement to restart talks at last week’s G20 summit, the pork industry stands out for its success in avoiding the sharp sales reductions that have slammed other U.S. farm sectors, such as soybeans and sorghum,” writes Tom Polansek.
“U.S. pork exports fell 3.9 percent by volume and 8.4 percent by value from May 2018 to April 2019, compared to a year earlier, according to data compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation. … By comparison, total U.S. soybean exports dropped 13.7 percent by volume and 19.2 percent by value during the same period, while total sorghum exports dropped 72.8 percent by volume and 73.6 percent by value, according to the USDA.”
None of this happened by chance. As Polansek explains, “The industry’s salvation has roots in global marketing efforts that began more than a decade before the U.S-China trade dispute, as American hog farmers and their trade groups sought to take advantage of a boom in protein demand linked to rising incomes in emerging markets.
“They visited importers and grocery stores in developing countries, taught buyers how U.S. pork is produced, and touted its quality to chefs and bloggers around the world, according to participants in the trade trips. Those efforts took years to pay off.”