Taiwan's main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT) began a push on Sunday for a referendum to block the easing of restrictions on US pork imports, which if passed could threaten a long-mooted free trade deal with Taipei's key ally Washington.
The same week United States President Donald Trump announced sweeping increases on tariffs against Chinese goods, Chinese buyers dropped orders for 3,247 metric tons of US pork - the biggest cancellation in more than a year, according to US Department of Agriculture data released on Thursday.