The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) is back from its trade mission to South Korea, led by USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Ag Affairs Alexis Taylor. She shared how American agriculture was on display overseas.
“Our exporters and businesses that we had with us conducted 616 meetings with potential importers and buyers looking to expand the variety of U.S. food and agricultural products that they’re offering to Korean consumers and those participating companies reported 67 million in projected 12-month sales from those meetings.”
Alexis Taylor, USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Ag Affairs
On a recent media call, Taylor elaborated on the strength and growing diversity of South Korea’s ag export market.
“Exports of U.S. food and agricultural products to [South] Korea were just over $8 billion last year in 2023, really built upon the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, but also a really strong and strategic bilateral relationship that we have. That’s $8 billion of U.S. food and ag exports. [It] made Korea our fifth largest single-country export market.”
Alexis Taylor, USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Ag Affairs
The top five U.S. ag exports to South Korea were beef, pork, seafood, wheat, and dried distillers grain.
Related Stories
The U.S.-Japan tech pact signals long-term investment in bio-innovation, connectivity, and secure supply chains — all of which can strengthen rural manufacturing, ag exports, and digital infrastructure critical to the next generation of farm productivity.
Export volumes remain positive year-to-date, but weaker soybean loadings and slowing wheat movement hint at early bottlenecks in global demand or river logistics. Farmers should watch basis levels and freight conditions as export competition heats up.
Industry leaders representing more than 40 nations gathered to discuss the future of ethanol and other corn-based products.
Imported lean beef continues to play a critical role in U.S. hamburger and ground-beef production, with any added volume from Argentina serving as a supplement — not a market overhaul.
A fast-moving series of trade signals from the White House and key partners is resetting the near-term outlook for U.S. agriculture.
Stay alert for trade announcements—especially border reopening timelines, tariff threats, and developments in Brazil’s export flows.
