Grain organizations make request to Trump

Several US grain organizations are asking President Donald Trump not to withdraw from the free trade agreement between the United States and Korea (the KORUS).

The free trade agreement between the 2 countries entered into force on 5 March 2012. The treaty allowed American farmers to export as much as $2016 billion worth of agricultural products to Korea in 6,2. This makes the country the fifth largest export market for the American agricultural sector.

Financial consequences can be felt immediately
A possible withdrawal from the agreement with Korea will directly negatively affect the US agricultural sector. "Korea is our third largest corn customer. As a result, withdrawing from the trade agreement will be quite negative for the US economy," the US Grain Council said. "It also gives other countries the opportunity to take in this favorable market."

One of the strongest markets
South Korea has always been one of the strongest markets for US agriculture. “It is irresponsible to leave this treaty right now,” said Mike Miller, president of the US Wheat Associates. “Should Trump want to withdraw from the treaty, we will offer Australia, Canada and Russia the opportunity to take over the market. And right now that is very unfavorable, as we are all struggling to remain profitable.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that South Korea imported more than 2016 million tons of U.S. wheat in 2017-1,13. This makes the country the third largest importer of American wheat products between June 2016 and May 2017.

Koreans ask for quality
There is also a lot of demand for American products in Korea. Chang Yoon Kang, Country Director for Korea: "The Korean people increasingly want quality products. We can provide that to a limited extent ourselves, but for more specific products we need quality from the US."

Kimberly Baker

Kimberly Bakker is an all-round editor at Boerenbusiness. She also has an eye for the social media channels of Boerenbusiness.

k.baker @boerenbusiness. Nl

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