Given China’s pork shortage and its concurrent sensitivity to imports, some have speculated that pork has been entering the country, or is poised to, via unofficial pathways. Many countries are talking about shortening supply chains and increasing self-sufficiency. Taiwan went the opposite way several years ago when its national economic planning commission calculated that land was too precious for pork production and instead the focus should be on microchips. Instead of investing in more pork, the government created the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which grew into the largest microchip supplier in the world. The microchip market is every bit as tough and competitive as the pork industry but potentially more pro...

TAGS – Livestock, Asia, Macroeconomics