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.”
