IS PIG farming a strategic industry? This question is likely to give a whole new meaning to “pork-barrel politics”, as American politicians decide whether to approve the sale for $4.7 billion ($7.1 billion including debt) announced on May 29th of Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork producer, to Shuanghui International, a giant Chinese meat company. The two firms had reportedly been in talks since 2009, but had been unable to agree a price until now. Shuanghui’s chairman, Wan Long, who built his firm from scratch, is known as China’s “number one butcher” because the company slaughters more than 15m pigs a year.

Smithfield’s shareholders appear to be delighted to receive 31% more for their shares than they were worth before the deal. They include Continental Grain, an American company which owns a big steak, sorry, stake in Smithfield and which has been arguing for its break-up. But will the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which advises the president, find a way to stop the Chinese bringing home America’s bacon?

The merger announcement stressed the global reach that the new firm will have. This may encourage American politicians to try to stir things up by raising the possibility that the combined firm will import dodgy meat from China. More likely, though, the pigs will fly in the other direction, from the mature meat market of America, which has seen consumption shrink for four consecutive years according to the Department of Agriculture, to the fast-growing one of China, which is already twice the size of America’s.

Although this deal is clearly part of a broader strategy by corporate China to, er, beef up its global presence, the primary reason for acquiring Smithfield is domestic. The Chinese love pork and as their incomes soar they want it more than ever. A domestic herd of 476m pigs, around half of the global pig population, already seems insufficient; China has been a net importer of pork since 2008.

Moreover, wealth is bringing with it a more sophisticated consumerism, and growing concern about the safety of food produced locally. In March thousands of dead pigs were seen floating down the Huangpu river to Shanghai, raising fears of water contamination. Police in China have reportedly arrested more than 900 people in a three-month crackdown on illegal meat sales, including two people who had sold over 40 tonnes of diseased pork.

In 2011 Shuanghui itself was involved in a scandal over feeding livestock a chemical harmful to humans. For Chinese consumers, then, a combination of Shuanghui with Smithfield, bringing with it the prospect of shipping in much more pork from America, is a corporate marriage made in hog heaven.

That said, Smithfield has had some problems of its own. It is currently partway through weaning its pigs off ractopamine, a lean-muscle-promoting drug that has already been banned in China. In 2009 it faced allegations, later disproved, of swine flu at one of its pig farms in Mexico.

Joining forces with a Western brand to overcome local food-safety concerns in China is becoming a trend. Danone, a French firm, recently announced a big investment in expanding its dairy operation in China, following similar initiatives by Arla Foods, a Danish firm, and Nestlé, a Swiss food manufacturer.

Bye, bye, Miss American pie?

The main difference with this pork deal is that it is a Chinese firm putting up the money. Ironically, in 2006 a large share of Shuanghui was bought by an investor group including Goldman Sachs, which later sold much of its stake at a juicy profit reckoned to be around five times the original investment. That deal was approved by the Chinese government.

So, will America’s politicians do likewise with the acquisition of Smithfield? Or will they end up scuppering the deal, as happened with CNOOC’s bid for Unocal, an oil company, in 2005, and the attempt to buy the operator of several American ports by Dubai Ports World in 2006? In both of these cases, America’s justification for blocking foreign ownership was fairly tenuous. So the Chinese bid for Smithfield may yet be stopped because, say, keeping down the price of a barbecue is a matter of national security.