China could increase U.S. pork imports to the highest ever this year as part of its commitment to bolster purchases of American farm goods to resolve the trade war between the two countries, according to people familiar with the situation.

China may buy as much as 300,000 metric tons of pork in 2019, the people said. That amount would be about 80 percent more than the 166,000 tons it bought from the U.S. in 2017, before the trade war started. One of the people said the Asian nation could order 200,000 tons in the first half of the year alone.