Seoul: No request has been made so far by Washington for negotiations on South Korea's agriculture-related policies mentioned in the U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) annual report on foreign trade barriers, Seoul's agriculture ministry said Tuesday. Still, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it will earnestly discuss the cited issues should there be such a request.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the remarks came hours after the USTR released the 2025 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE), which is expected to play a crucial role in the country-by-country reciprocal tariffs that President Donald Trump's administration is set to announce Wednesday (U.S. time). The U.S. report mentioned a number of trade barriers in the agriculture sector, including Seoul's regulatory system for agricultural biotechnology and restrictions on U.S. beef imports deriving from animals aged 30 months or more.
"The content on the agricultural sector mentioned in this year's U.S. NTE report is what U.S. officials have raised issue with every year," the ministry said in a press release. "Until now, there has been no negotiation request from the U.S. government on the matter," the ministry added, vowing to respond to the issue with priority on "national interest."
South Korea's age restriction on U.S. beef was put in place in 2008 amid fears over mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy. But even with the age-based restriction, Seoul has been the biggest importer of U.S. beef every year since 2022, purchasing US$2.22 billion worth of meat in 2024 alone, according to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The U.S. livestock industry has been calling for the lifting of the age restrictions, but many industry watchers argue the removal of such restrictions will likely revive fears of mad cow disease here, which, in turn, may lead to a decline in consumption of beef products altogether.