CME cattle, hogs plunge as US-China trade tensions heat up

Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle and hog futures took nose dives on Monday as another huge selloff in the equities market following U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs created concerns for the future of consumer demand, analysts said.

Wall Street was in a tailspin after Trump said he would impose an additional 50% ,, from China on Wednesday if the world's No. 2 economy did not withdraw the 34% tariffs it had imposed on U.S. products last week. Those Chinese tariffs had come in response to 34% duties announced by Trump.

The escalation in the trade war between the two countries reignited concerns of a U.S. economic downturn which could impact consumer demand for beef and pork.

CME June live cattle futures (LCM25) fell 4.025 cents to end at 194.175 cents per pound, having hit lows not seen since March 7.

May feeder cattle futures (FCK25) closed down 3.600 cents at 271.275 cents per pound.

"Cattle never is insulated from equity," said Cassie Fish, analyst and author at The Beef newsletter, because of its ties to consumer discretionary spending. "The bloom is off the rose for the bull cattle market right now," she said.

In the lean hog market, June futures (LHM25) dropped 1.500 cents to finish at 90.050 cents per pound, having reached their lowest point since August 20, 2024.

The rising trade tensions between Washington and Beijing have stoked fears that China, the world's largest pork consumer, will buy less from the U.S., sending lean hog futures plunging by daily trading limits.

CME will temporarily expand its daily trading limits on Tuesday to 6 cents for hogs, according to the exchange.

An additional 10% retaliatory duty on U.S. pork entering China has been in place since March 10, which increased China’s effective tariff rate on U.S. pork to 47%, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation. Effective April 10, China’s total tariff rate on U.S. pork and pork variety meat is set to increase to 81%.