China’s pork shortage could give US farmers a chance to cash in

BEIJING — China needs more pork imports than ever as the country grapples with an outbreak of a swine disease — and that could become a business opportunity for U.S. farmers if the two countries can reach an agreement on trade.

African swine fever hit Chinese pig farms last year, causing a severe shortage in the meat that is a staple for hundreds of millions of Chinese households.

Prices have nearly doubled, and publicly available data indicate China’s production of pork this year will likely fall a few million tons...