Lotte Shanghai Foods, a joint venture between Hershey and Lotte Group, has been ordered to stop production by Chinese authorities, escalating China’s economic retaliation for the deployment of a US missile-defense system in South Korea. The suspension order marks the first time that a US company has also been pulled into the fray, according to Bloomberg. Lotte and its affiliates have incurred the brunt of the recent Chinese actions after the South Korean conglomerate agreed to provide a golf course that the US will use to deploy the THAAD missile defense system. Chinese authorities ordered the production stoppage due to alleged safety violations, according to a Lotte representative, who asked not to be identified, citing company policy. The monthlong halt could cost the joint venture about 4 billion won ($3.5 million) in lost sales, the company official said.
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