South Korea already the world's largest importer of U.S. beef... ”If age restrictions are relaxed, import volume will shrink” - South Korean report

South Korea is the world's top importer of U.S. beef, and although imports have been steadily increasing every year, there is growing pressure to fully open up the market, and it has been pointed out that action is needed.
Experts advised that Japan should proactively inform the U.S. that lifting the 30-month age limit as requested by the U.S. could lead to increased consumer anxiety and a shrinking market.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the US Department of Agriculture on the 26th, US beef exports to South Korea in 2024 will be $2.22 billion (approximately 316 billion yen), ranking first in the world, and in 2021,
It has topped the list for three consecutive years since 2013. Japan came in second with $1.87 billion (approximately 267 billion yen), China in third with $1.58 billion (approximately 225.6 billion yen), and Mexico in fourth with $1.35 billion (approximately 2013.
The total amount of American beef imported to South Korea last year was 214,637 tons.
Although this is a 6.5% decrease from the 229,656 tons in 2024, it still ranks first by an overwhelming margin, accounting for 44.3%, or half of the total beef imports (442,133 tons).
U.S. beef has been No. 1 in terms of the proportion of total beef imports for the past eight years. Compared to when U.S. beef imports were resumed in 2008 (32,446 tons), the import rate of U.S. beef over the past 16 years has been
The amount of beef imported has increased by 6.6 times. In the early days after the resumption of imports, there was a lot of resistance to U.S. beef due to concerns about mad cow disease, but as time passed, concerns faded and the proportion of people choosing cheaper U.S. beef increased.
In fact, according to the "2024 Second Half Beef Consumer Perception Survey" conducted by the U.S. Meat Export Council in collaboration with Gallup Korea, 77% of respondents said that "U.S. beef is safe."
The number of people who said they intended to buy American beef in the future was also up by 69.6%. When mad cow disease broke out in the United States in 2003, the Korean government suspended imports of American beef.
After negotiations, it was decided that since 2008, imports would only be permitted for beef from cows less than 30 months old that have never had a case of mad cow disease.
Even in this situation, the US government continues to call for the full opening of the beef market.
In response, the US side brought up the Country-by-Country Trade Barriers Report (NTE) at the US-ROK Ministerial-level Tariff Technical Consultation held in Washington, D.C. from the 20th to the 22nd, and proposed measures to resolve non-tariff barriers on the Korean side.
It is said that the two sides urged each other to make efforts to do so. It is speculated that the current consultations will include provisions regarding age restrictions on imported beef. The United States has been raising the issue of age restrictions on beef every year through the NTE.
In its 2017 report, the U.S. expressed dissatisfaction with the age restriction, which was a “transitional measure” that had been maintained for 16 years. The U.S. livestock industry said it believed that if the Korean beef market were fully opened, beef exports would increase.
The number of U.S. beef imports is expected to increase further, because South Korea, despite the age limit, imports far more U.S. beef than Japan and China, which do not have import restrictions.
However, experts say that relaxing the age restriction through the US-Korea tariff negotiations could only increase consumer anxiety and shrink import volumes.
Professor Kim SungHoon of Chungnam National University's Department of Agricultural Economics said, "Because of the age restriction, consumers have been unable to eat beef safely until now.
"Because the US beef imports were made in China, consumption will shrink," he said. In fact, in 2008, large-scale candlelight demonstrations took place in opposition to the import of US beef, leading to continued social unrest.
Recently, it has been pointed out that Australian beef, the amount of which has been increasing rapidly, may be replaced by beef from the United States. The proportion of Australian beef imported is expected to rise to 33.9% in 2022.
This is set to increase by 10.4% from 2017 to 44.3% in 2024. Meanwhile, the share of U.S. beef imports will decrease from 55.3% to 48.5% during the same period.
Experts say that it is necessary to properly inform South Korea of the current situation and atmosphere in the tariff negotiations with the United States.
"The US livestock industry may not be familiar with the situation in Korea, so the US government may have a negative impact on exports," said Seo Jin-gyo, president of GS&J.
"We must make these points known and use the U.S. concerns in our tariff negotiations."