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
Higher freight rates and potential service disruptions are key concerns for agriculture, which relies heavily on rail to move commodities.
Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor joins us to discuss the uncertain path for year-round E15 sales and the next steps as the issue heads toward a standalone House vote after it was stripped from the Farm Bill.
Seasonal pricing strength is lining up with crop stress, giving wheat producers another weather-driven marketing window. Shaun Haney joins us to discuss concerns from ag bankers on farm profitability.
Corn and cotton gave the strongest signals this week, while soybean demand remained softer than in the previous report.
Reliance on vegetable imports remains uneven, with domestic production still anchoring several major categories.
StoneX’s Josh Linville discusses USDA’s efforts to boost domestic fertilizer production and his outlook on supply and prices.