The recently endorsed free trade agreement between Korea and the US will pave way for US pork and beef to enter Korea duty-free.

The Korea-US Free Trade Agreement signed last week by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump will pave the way for US beef and pork to enter South Korea duty-free by 2026.

Most US pork products already enter Korea duty-free. The duty rate on US beef has been reduced from 40% to 21.3% and will continue to decline each year until it is eliminated by 2026.

The US so far is the largest exporter of beef to Korea.  in 2017, US red meat exported to Korea was worth US$1.7 billion, up 19% y-o-y. Korea is now the second-largest value market for US beef (after Japan) and fourth-largest for US pork (after Japan, Mexico and China/Hong Kong).