EXPORTS: China Is So Desperate for Pork That It’s Buying American Again.

A disease sweeping through Chinese hog herds is helping negate the effects of the trade war for American farmers, with U.S. pork sales to the Asian nation back to levels before tariffs were introduced.

China was the third-largest buyer of pork in U.S. Department of Agriculture weekly data released Thursday. The 3,300 metric ton-purchase was the most since February, a month before China imposed tariffs on U.S. pork. Hog futures rose 4.4 percent in Chicago, the most in two weeks.

“This is a game changer,” said Dennis Smith, a senior account executive at Archer Financial Services Inc. “It gives confirmation that the disease is far worse than what we’ve been told.”

The real story here isn’t that we’ll be paying more for pork again, but that despite Beijing’s Great Power ambitions, they still have serious trouble with basic public health safety issues.