President Trump calls Korea-U.S. agreement “a horrible deal;” U.S. has been top pork supplier to Korea for more than a decade.

April 28, 2017

1 Min Read
Administration considers withdrawing from ‘KORUS’
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence shakes hands with South Korean acting president and prime minister Hwang Kyo-ahn during their joint press conference on April 17, 2017, in Seoul, South Korea. Getty Images

Source: National Pork Producers Council
The Trump administration is considering withdrawing from the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, citing America’s trade deficit with the Asian nation. The trade deal was ratified in 2011 and is set for a review.

On his recent trip to South Korea, Vice President, Mike Pence, said the United States would like to “reform” the agreement. National Pork Producers Council, which was a strong supporter of the trade pact, is hopeful the administration will “modernize” rather than withdraw from KORUS. South Korea is the No. 5 market for U.S. pork exports. The U.S. pork industry shipped more than $365 million of product to South Korea.

According to the U.S. Meat Export Federation, the United States is the second-largest supplier of pork to Korea after the European Union. But when classified as individual countries, the United States has been Korea’s top pork supplier for more than a decade. U.S. market share was 30% in 2016, and in the first two months of 2017, U.S. pork exports to Korea were up 18%.

In media reports, President Donald Trump has called KORUS “a horrible deal” that has left America “destroyed.”

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