By Tom Polansek
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Tariffs make it more complicated for Smithfield Foods, the biggest U.S. pork processor, to sell all parts of a pig, CEO Shane Smith said on Wednesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump roiled agricultural markets by announcing tariffs last week on goods from China, Mexico and Canada, the top importers of American farm products. Two days after the announcement, Trump suspended most of the tariffs on Canada and Mexico for a month.
China, the world’s biggest pork consumer, retaliated with hikes to import levies covering $21 billion worth of American agricultural and food products.
Smithfield does not export material amounts of meat to China, but ships offal products, such as pig stomachs, hearts and heads that U.S. consumers generally do not eat, Smith said. The company believes China will still be the best market for offal with increased tariffs, he said.
“In fresh pork, it’s really about finding a home for every piece of that,” Smith said on a livestream of a Bank of America event.
“With the tariffs coming in, it makes it more complicated as you look around the globe and see how things are moving and how exchange rates are moving.”
Tariffs can impact U.S. pork producers because they import baby piglets from Canada.
Canada last week suspended imports from Smithfield’s processing facility in Tar Heel, North Carolina, the biggest U.S. pork plant, due to an issue regarding offal, according to the company.
The halt was not related to tariffs, and Smithfield is working to resolve the issue, Smith said.
“There was a customer pickup and there was a problem when it reached the border,” he said. “We’re bringing that product back.”
Smithfield, which has about 34,000 U.S. employees, previously warned it could suffer worker shortages or higher employment costs if the Trump administration enacts new immigration laws.
“We’re paying close attention to all of the things that are coming out,” Smith said. “We personally haven’t seen a big impact, where we think maybe some others have.”
(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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