“In China, pork knuckles are more expensive than cutlets or schnitzels,” says Schladerer.

China didn’t wait long to respond to EU punitive tariffs on Chinese electric cars. It was learned on Monday that China will launch an anti-dumping investigation into European Union (EU) products. In particular, it concerns imported pork and its by-products. Beijing imported 5.6 billion euros worth of pork last year, more than half of which came from the European Union.

“China is an issue for the Austrian pig market, but not the most important one, you have to be honest about it,” says Johann Schladerer, managing director of the Agricultural Processing Producers Association and the Austrian Pig Exchange. “If the import duty on pork is 100 per cent like India, we will definitely be driven out of the Chinese market. If that ten or twenty percent adds to the price of pork, it’s painful for us. Ultimately, he believes it will have little impact.

In recent years, tens of thousands of tons of by-products such as ears, legs, tails, head meat and offal, which are considered delicacies in China, have been delivered from Austria.

“In China, pork knuckles cost more than cutlets or schnitzels,” says Schladerer. “We tried really hard to get this license.” If China imposes penalties on EU pork, pork producer Brazil will benefit. “The interest in imported pork depends on China’s self-sufficiency,” says Lederer. It has increased again in recent years. “Austria supplies between 5,000 and 10,000 tons of pork today,” estimates Schladerer.