"If China goes to other customers to find pork, well, they may just stay with those customers even after a dispute is settled," said the industry leader.

Hope for closer collaboration

U.S. beef producers, who are looking forward to gaining a larger share in China, also long for a settlement of the trade rifts between the world's top two economies, which potentially cloud the outlook for business collaboration.

China is a relatively new market for U.S. beef, but with a lot of potential to tap, Ashley Kohls, executive director of the Minnesota State Cattlemen's Association, an organization that currently represents over 1,000 members from all segments of the beef community, told Xinhua.

U.S. beef producers have been excited to enter the Chinese market after years of absence as a result of the detection of the mad cow disease in the United States, she said, adding that her association is sending a working group to Asia every year since 2017 to promote sales.

"Anytime there's any tension between countries that we either have a relationship with or are trying to build a relationship with, it's just struggle for us," she noted.

So far, many individuals, organizations as well as business groups in the United States have voiced their concerns about the tariffs' ripple effects on both related industries and the broader U.S. economy while yearning for a settlement.

U.S. anti-tariff advocacy group Tariffs Hurt the Heartland warned that as the country's trade disputes with its trading partners persist, repercussions will be felt by farmers, factory workers and everyday consumers nationwide.

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