China has made the largest purchases of American pork in the past two weeks.
The deal was concluded even despite a 62% Chinese duty on pork imports from the United States caused by a trade war between the two countries.
The sale of 23,846 tons of American pork occurred after a multi-month outbreak of African swine fever in China, which since August 2018 has spread to 111 confirmed cases in 28 provinces and regions of the country. There are currently no cures or vaccines for this contagious and fatal disease for pigs. These sales to China were the largest since April 2017 and third largest since the USDA began tracking export sales of pork in 2013.The US Department of Agriculture did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the sale of pork to China. Officials previously said China could underestimate data on pig deaths from African plague. China has also recently resumed purchases of other U.S. agricultural products, including soybeans and sorghum, which are subject to import response tariffs.