Where’s The Beef, South Korea?

There is still no deal on the beef issue, so in my mind, there is no trade agreement. I’m dismayed that the trade representative was satisfied by vague promises for future cooperation rather than a guarantee that American beef would no longer be unfairly shut-out of the Korean market, especially given Korea’s track record on the issue.

I have communicated to the Korean Ambassador that full trade must resume for the Senate to consider passing a free-trade agreement. I thought they understood this when they took steps to allow some American beef to enter Korean markets. However, it appears that that was as far as they were willing to go. It’s not far enough and I will work with my colleagues to block this agreement as long as the beef issue remains unresolved.

As we saw with Japan, and as we now see with Korea, other nations all too eagerly find excuses to block imports of our products. And our producers are rightfully reluctant to ship to nations that have a history of blocking trade on capricious grounds. This agreement only shows those nations that we will buckle under if they hold out long enough. We need to send a new message – unfair targeting of our agriculture products will lead to an end to trade agreements.