KORUS trade deal reassures US beef and pork industry
Signing a revised KORUS trade agreement is seen as good news for the US beef and pork industry. Since 2012, when the trade agreement went into effect trade between the two countries has increased by more than 50% from $6.3 billion to $9.8 billion in 2017. Agriculture accounts for the majority of trade to South Korea with $6.9 billion worth of products being purchased last year by the U.S.’s sixth largest export market.
"The United States is the largest supplier of beef to Korea and trails only the European Union as the second-largest pork supplier. US red meat exports to Korea set a record last year of $1.7 billion, up 19% year-over-year and up 69 % from 2012, when KORUS entered into force. This trend continues in 2018, with both U.S. beef and pork export value increasing more than 50% compared to a year ago. Korea is now the second-largest value market for U.S. beef (after Japan) and fourth-largest for U.S. pork (after Japan, Mexico and China/Hong Kong)", declared Dan Halstrom, president and CEO of US Meat Export Federation.
The duty rate on U.S. beef has been reduced from 40% to 21.3% and will continue to decline each year until it is eliminated by 2026.
April beef exports totaled 89,783 mt, down 11% from a year ago, while value fell 5% to $780.6 mil...
However, there is reason to hope that the market can now recover at this lower price level. A sur...
Pork exports totaled 257,212 metric tons (mt) in April, 8% (and nearly 20,000 mt) above last year...
