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.
Expanded export financing could provide greater support for ag sales abroad if buyers and lenders use the additional tools.
April 30, 2026 12:38 PM
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The farm bill is still moving, but the toughest amendment fights were pushed into today’s session. ASA President Scott Metzger joins us to discuss the risks of tariff actions on soybean exports, concerns over trade policy and production costs, and the importance of Farm Bill updates.
April 30, 2026 10:22 AM
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Higher input costs are making flexible marketing plans and updated break-even targets more important.
April 29, 2026 12:33 PM
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Rail rulings, export terminal access, and equipment rules are becoming bigger factors in grain shipping costs and reliability.
April 29, 2026 09:00 AM
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Higher ocean freight rates can add export cost pressure even when grain demand remains active.
April 29, 2026 08:00 AM
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Weekly export movement stayed solid, with corn and sorghum continuing to show the strongest overall pace.
April 29, 2026 06:00 AM
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