U.S. meat exports poised for continued growth under new U.S-Japan agreement

The trade deal with U.S. and Japan is set to boost American beef and pork exports.

Japan is our second-largest market for pork and beef. The U.S. Meat Export Federation says that the agreement brought a sense of relief to Japan.

According to Dan Halstrom, “I think the fact that a deal had been done on autos, which is obviously one of the big sticky points with Japan, kind of laid to rest any concerns there might have been on possible retaliation from the Japanese side should a deal not have been reached.”

Bottom line, Halstrom says that this is a big deal and the numbers themselves prove it.

“When you’re talking about your second-largest export market in the world, 2024, we saw about $1.9 billion on beef and about $1.4 billion on pork, for a total of about $3.3 billion in sales, and it’s been pretty consistent right in that range,” he adds.

Halstrom was in Japan when the Trump adminsitration announced the deal. He met with several importers and distributors while there.

Related Stories
Canadian tariffs would raise costs for potash, ammonia, and UAN, increasing spring fertilizer risk.
Experts say flooding the zone with more money could have unintented consequences without opening new markets for planted crops and inputs under significant pressure.
Julie Callahan was nominated earlier this summer by President Donald Trump, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told lawmakers she is ready to hit the ground running.
Sen. Deb Fischer, of Nebraska, mentioned that Congress pushing through year-round E15 sales will do more to help commodity growers than more farm aid, which is currently a reality.
Sen. Moran joins us to discuss the farm aid package and the financial reality faced by row crop farmers in his home state of Kansas.
Corn and wheat exports continue to outperform last year, while soybeans show steady but subdued movement compared to 2024.