A US pork giant: The tariff war has made us lose the Chinese market

Executives of Smithfield Foods, a top US pork processor, said that due to the tariff war initiated by Trump, China is no longer a viable market for the company, and it needs to find alternative markets.

Shane Smith, the CEO of Smithfield, said that China accounts for about 3% of Smithfield's sales. The company mainly exports various pig by-products to China, such as pig stomachs, pig hearts and pig heads, which are not commonly consumed by American consumers. Smith said in a quarterly earnings conference call, "Since the Chinese market is basically closed to us, we really have to adjust our business focus."

Globally, China is not only the world's largest consumer of pork, but also the sole major buyer of pig by-products like pig offal. This means that after being blocked from the Chinese market by high tariffs, it may be difficult for the pig by-products produced in the US to find suitable buyers in the short term.