A potential trade war could have serious ramifications for US agriculture. US Agricultural exports to China are worth twenty billion dollars. A key industry is pork. As CGTN's Dan Williams reports, recent developments have many pork farmers in Illinois deeply concerned.

Feeding time at a pork farm in Polo, western Illinois. Farmer Brian Duncan is hard at work in one of the sheds. But at the front of his mind are the possible tariffs that could be placed on the US pork industry. The White House has already imposed metal tariffs on China and is now working on details of a plan to add further duties on a host of other Chinese goods. China has already said it will fight back - and one commodity it is targeting is pork - with proposed tariffs as high as 25 percent. If that happens, Duncan believes it would be catastrophic for the industry.

BRIAN DUNCAN ILLINOIS PORK FARMER "Over a third of a value of a hog comes from exports. So you take those away, obviously, we are struggling to make money right now. But you take that away, it would decimate the pork industry."

US pork is a twenty billion dollar-a-year industry with exports to China worth more than one billion dollars. The National Pork Producers Council estimates that the pork export market supports 110-thousand jobs.

JENNIFER TIREY ILLINOIS PORK PRODUCERS "The China market is unique because one of their interests is in our variety meats, the things that really aren't as marketable in the United States. With China being our number two market in volume, it would definitely impact the US pork industry in a dramatic way. That would really hurt the economy and our US pig farmer."

Adding to the state of concern is the ongoing dispute over the North American Free Trade agreement. Mexico is the largest export market for US pork producers.

DAN WILLIAMS POLO, ILLINOIS "The threat of tariffs has caused uncertainty for farmers here. And there is a real fear that once a market disappears, it is then difficult to bring it back."

JULIAN DIAZ QUINLAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, LOYOLA UNIVERSITY "Establishing a market and establishing presence in a market is costly. If that effort is wasted because of protectionist measures, reclaiming that market might be very difficult. Especially when there are other countries very efficient at exporting that product. They would be happy and ready to claim the portion of the market we are losing."

There are a wide range of implications in a possible international trade war. What is clear, farmers here are bracing themselves for an uncertain future. Dan Williams, CGTN Polo, Illinois.