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 Surface Transportation Board rejects the proposed Norfolk Southern–Union Pacific merger, prompting concerns from agricultural shippers about rail consolidation, service reliability, and higher transportation costs.
Freight volatility and route selection remain critical to soybean export margins and competitiveness.
While short-term volatility remains a risk, softer ocean freight rates in 2026 could improve export margins.
Trade volatility and shifting export destinations increase marketing risk for producers heading into 2026.
EXCLUSIVE: Texas Lawmakers Weigh USMCA’s Relevance and What Renegotiation Could Mean for Agriculture
RFD NEWS Correspondent Frank McCaffrey speaks with Texas’s Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez about USMCA renegotiation and its impact on U.S.–Mexico agriculture trade.
Shaun Haney joined us to discuss Canada’s new trade agreement with China, the potential impact on farmers and exporters, and what it could mean for U.S.–Canada trade relations going forward.
