China said on Tuesday it would accept applications for new tariff exemptions for 696 products imported from the United States including key agricultural and energy products such as pork, beef, soybeans, liquefied natural gas and crude oil.
China is considering tapping into its strategic frozen reserves of meat, its top economic planner said on Wednesday, as it grapples with a swine fever outbreak that has ripped through its massive pig-farming industry.
Pork prices have been sent soaring and herds devastated as African swine fever tears through China's massive pig-farming industry, forcing the country to ramp up imports to satisfy demand - but analysts warn worse is yet to come.
Brazil is in a position to step up pork exports to China where an African swine fever outbreak has become a “transformational event” for the global meat industry, Pedro Parente, chief executive of Brazilian food processor BRF SA, said on Wednesday.
Russia's agriculture safety watchdog said on Wednesday it would allow imports of beef and pork from nine Brazilian plants beginning on Thursday, ending an 11-month ban triggered by concerns about the safety of their meat products.
The European Union and Mexico reached an agreement on Saturday on a new free trade deal, a coup for both parties in the face of increased protectionism from the United States under President Donald Trump. Since its plans for a trade alliance with the United States were frozen after Trump's election victory, the EU has focused instead on trying to champion open markets and seal accords with other like-minded countries.
China opened its market significantly for Brazilian beef and chicken said Brazil’s Agriculture minister Wagner Rossi on his return from a week long visit to China with a business delegation headed by President Dilma Rousseff.
China opened its market to Brazilian pork and Brazil’s meat packer Marfrig said it would invest heavily in distribution centres in China. The announcements were made in Beijing where a numerous government and private sector delegation headed by Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff is on an official visit to China.
Shares of Smithfield Foods Inc., the top U.S. pork producer, jumped as much as 8.3% Tuesday on speculation the company may be a takeover target for Brazil-based meat processor JBS S.A. A report in the Brazilian publication Valor Economico, citing market sources said JBS may seek discussions over an acquisition with Smithfield.