Illinois pork producers worried about China tariff

Posted 3/23/18

Proposed 25 percent tariff would eliminate profit for farmers.

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Illinois pork producers worried about China tariff

Posted

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois pork producers say they don’t need anything that will get them a worse price for their hogs – that includes a proposed 25 percent tariff from China.
China’s commerce ministry on Thursday proposed tariffs on a list of 128 American products, including a 25 percent tariff on pork imports from the U.S. The tariffs are in response to President Donald Trump’s decision to place tariffs on steel and aluminum imported into the U.S.
That’s bad new for Illinois.
Illinois is the fourth largest pork-producing state in the country. And China is Illinois’ second largest market for pigs.

Henry County hog farmer Gary Asay said that adding a 25 percent tax to every pig or pound of meat that Illinois sends to China would all but eliminate the small profit farmers are eking out.
“A hog will make about $10 to $20 going to market, when the analysts say its worth $125 to $150 going to market,” Asay said. “So it’s a small profit percentage.”
A 25 percent tariff on that $150 hog comes to about $37. Asay said farmers in Illinois can’t afford those kind of prices.
“2017 was a good year for raising hogs. But recently, the hog prices have dropped significantly, particularity in the last month,” Asay said. “Many hog farmers are below their cost of production.”
Asay said many Illinois hog farmers still remember 1998, when pork prices bottomed out and farmers either killed or gave away their piglets to avoid losing money by raising them to adults.
National Pork Producers President Jim Heimerl said in a statement that China buys over $1 billion in pork from the U.S. every year, making China the country’s second largest pork-trading partner.
“We sell a lot of pork to China, so higher tariffs on our exports going there really could hurt,” Heimerl said. “No one wins in these tit-for-tat trade disputes, least of all the farmers and the consumers.”