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
Rabobank’s outlook signals a tightening margin environment, emphasizing the need for cost control, trade stability, and clearer policy signals heading into 2026.
Farm Bureau Economist Faith Parum discusses key outcomes from the U.S.-China trade agreement and the benefits of expanding trade across Southeast Asia.
Chris Bliley with Growth Energy discusses ongoing concerns about U.S. ethanol exports and the expansion of market access promised under the Phase One deal between the U.S. and China.
“It does not extinguish right away here — in any sort of sense — the real profitability concerns and people’s ability to pay bills and get to the other side of this in the very short term. This is where the skepticism builds.”
U.S. Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) shares his perspective on the U.S.-China trade developments and their potential impact on American producers, farmers, and ranchers.
Rich Nelson, a commodity broker for Allendale Inc., joins us to break down what the U.S.-China trade agreement means for the ag economy.