Fischer, Bacon hail preserved agricultural provisions in updated KORUS Agreement

U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer and U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, Republicans from Nebraska, commended the recently signed United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) for largely keeping agricultural provisions intact, action the lawmakers said bodes well economically for their home state and the nation.

“Our nation’s partnership with South Korea through the KORUS Agreement has allowed Nebraska’s agriculture economy to thrive. The enhancements made to the trade agreement better our relationship with South Korea and encourage the expansion of America’s trade economy,” Rep. Bacon said.

“I am pleased to see the administration has made a good trade deal with South Korea,” said Sen. Fischer, who serves on the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee. “This is a step in the right direction that will expand opportunities for our producers and the state of Nebraska.”

The bilateral trade agreement, which was initially reached in March 2012, has been under renegotiations since January. According to the Nebraska Farm Bureau (NFB), South Korea was Nebraska agriculture’s fifth-largest customer in 2016 when the country imported $340 million worth of the state’s agricultural goods.

Since implementation of the KORUS Agreement, Rep. Bacon noted that Nebraska’s agricultural exports to South Korea have increased 52 percent. “Year after year, Nebraska is ranked No. 1 in the nation for beef and cattle exports and production making our state a great asset to our international partners,” the congressman said. “In fact, the state’s beef and pork products were the largest exports to South Korea in 2016.”

In fact, according to the NFB, because the United States has a trade surplus with South Korea in agricultural trade, estimated to be more than $6.5 billion in 2017, any changes to the KORUS Agreement governing the rules of agricultural trade between the two countries could have disrupted the flow of U.S. agricultural exports to South Korea. “For Nebraska, such changes would be felt most acutely by beef and pork producers,” according to a background summary on the agreement released by the bureau.

That was a major reason why Sen. Fischer said she became “outspoken about the value of the South Korean market to Nebraska’s high-quality agriculture products.” Last year, in advocating for the United States to remain in the KORUS Agreement, Fischer “visited with both U.S. administration officials and South Korea officials to stress the importance of the trade relationship between our two countries,” she said.

For example, on Sept. 26, 2017, Sen. Fischer met with Kim Hyun-chong, South Korea’s Trade Minister, to discuss the KORUS Agreement after sending a Sept. 5, 2017 letter to President Donald Trump calling for him to not terminate the trade agreement.