Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 12/19/19

Ag groups have scored a series of potential trade wins late this year, from partial trade pacts with China and Japan to progress on USMCA. The pork industry, which was hit especially hard by Trump's tariff fights, is one of the corners of agriculture that stands to benefit from some of those moves.

"We're moving from being whacked because of trade retaliation and a couple really bad years, and now, it's not like things are fabulous for our producer, but it's certainly better now than this time last year," said Nick Giordano, vice president and counsel at the National Pork Producers Council, during a briefing on Wednesday.

Now with 2020 around the corner, the sector is looking across the pond for more potential export gains. The Trump administration has said that sealing deals with the EU and U.K. is a top priority for next year. "That's really welcome news to pork producers," Giordano said. "We really ship very little to Europe both because of tariff and non-tariff barriers."