China Gives European Pork Farmers Another Headache: Supply Lines

For Danish pig farmer Torben Farum, a potential trade war with China is the last thing he needs right now.

The EU’s exports of the meat have fallen in recent years for a number of reasons. And now China, the world’s biggest pork consumer, has started a <-bsp-bb-link state="{"bbHref":"bbg://news/stories/SF7UG3T0G1KW","_id":"00000190-3a76-d497-a7fb-fe7f04dd0000","_type":"0000016b-944a-dc2b-ab6b-d57ba1cc0000"}">probe on imports from the bloc that could result in tariffs.

The investigation is part of a trade tit-for-tat that has also included Chinese electric vehicles and European brandy. It’s unclear how quickly the probe will progress, but any duties would threaten EU shipments to the region’s single biggest overseas market for pork.

“We are becoming hostages in a trade war we aren’t even really part of,” said ...