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U.S. ranchers want Trump to remove Korea's age restriction on beef imports

Published: 12 Mar. 2025, 18:38 Updated: 12 Mar. 2025, 19:12

KIM JU-YEON
[email protected]

U.S. beef is displayed at a supermarket in Seoul on March 12. In an open letter sent the previous day, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association in the United States asked U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer for government-led negotiations to remove Korea's rule that prohibits the import of meat from cattle 30 months old and older. [YONHAP]

U.S. beef producers have asked the Donald Trump administration to help lift Korea’s ban on the import of beef from cattle older than 30 months, hoping to ride the wave of policy threats by the president, such as the imposition of tariffs, to put U.S. interests first.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) — a trade association and lobbying group representing U.S. cattle growers — made the request Tuesday in an open letter to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), which also contained other practices by U.S. trade partners deemed unfair by multiple industries.

The NCBA asked that Washington consult with Korea to remove the age restriction and strengthen science-based trade, arguing that the United States has some of the “most rigorous standards and highest safeguards” concerning bovine spongiform encephalopathy, more commonly known as mad cow disease.

Similar restrictions have been lifted in China, Japan and Taiwan because they recognized the safety and quality of U.S. beef, the NCBA said, while acknowledging that the restriction is a “sensitive issue in Korea.”

Protestors in central Seoul burn a paper-mache cow in opposition of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement in this photo taken on Jan. 16, 2007. [PARK JONG-GEUN]

Korea restricts beef imports from cattle older than 30 months to safeguard against the prion disease. The age regulation was a condition in an agreement to resume beef imports in 2008, having earlier suspended such shipments from entering in 2003. U.S. beef imports were highly politicized in Korea at the time on perceived government negligence toward public health, even leading to mass protests.

Despite the age-restricted ban, Korea is the largest importer of U.S. beef. The country imported $2.22 billion of it last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, surpassing China and Japan.

Consumption rose after the 40 percent tariffs for U.S. beef were lowered after the U.S.-Korea FTA entered into effect in 2012. Tariffs on the product are slated to be completely abolished next year.

The USTR will submit the report of the collected opinions on trade policies and suggested corrective measures to U.S. President Trump next month. The report will likely inform his decisions on tariff rates for each country.

A shopper looks at U.S. beef at a supermarket in downtown Seoul on March 12. [YONHAP]

The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Wednesday that such a request is not new, having been made in other versions of the USTR’s National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, but added that the government has not come up with a response as there has been no official order from the Trump administration.

“It is a restriction that concerns the safety of citizens, and as such, cannot be removed merely by request; there must be scientific evidence of its safety,” a spokesperson for the ministry said.

The Hanwoo Association, a collective of hanwoo (Korean beef) producers, opposed a ban lift in a statement on Wednesday.

The collective underscored Korea’s large current volume of imports from the United States, saying increased amounts would cripple Korean beef production, which had already taken a hit from low consumer sentiment amid a contracting economy.

“Mad cow disease was very controversial and a sensitive issue in our country […] consumers’ distrust of U.S. beef will spread to distrust about beef in general, which could lead to a drop in consumption of hanwoo,” the association said.

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]