GREELEY, Colo. — Many representatives of the U.S. agriculture industry spent recent days voicing concerns to their delegates in Washington, D.C., about President Trump’s threat to withdrawal from the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS). Among those ag leaders was Colorado Corn Administrative Committee (CCAC) President Mike Lefever, who reached out to both Sen. Michael Bennet and Sen. Cory Gardner.
Mike — along with leaders of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) and others — explained that withdrawing from KORUS would lead to immediate and sustained losses in sales to our nation’s third-largest corn customer, while also stressing that KORUS has solidified and enhanced our longtime and fruitful partnership with South Korea.
“Unilaterally walking away from it now is a rash move that will harm relationships we have built over a period of 40 years at the expense U.S. farm country,” officials with USGC said in statement.
In addition to being the third-largest market for U.S. corn, exports of feed grains in all forms to South Korea so far this marketing year have totaled 7.7 million metric tons, or more than 300 million bushels equivalent, with corn, DDGS, and meat exports leading the charge. Furthermore, exports to South Korea this year are expected to generate $7 billion in total U.S. economic activity, supporting 56,000 U.S. jobs.
— Eric Brown, Colorado Corn
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