Farmers fear reduced sales, business shutdowns if US imports expanded

Apple producers and members of a civic group stage a protest against the potential import of U.S. apples in front of the presidential office in Seoul's Yongsan District, July 9. Newsis

By Ko Dong-hwan

• Published Jul 23, 2025 1:00 AM KST

Using agriculture as tariff bargaining chip risks ‘irreparable’ damage

Local farmers are warning of “irreparable consequences” if the Lee Jae Myung government decides to import more agricultural produce from the United States as a bargaining chip in negotiations over a 25 percent U.S. "reciprocal" tariff on all Korean imports.

They said the potential influx of U.S. imports would further worsen their already strained business environment, eating into their sales due to the imports’ price advantage driven by large-scale mass production that far exceeds the scale here.

They said that would accelerate the closure of farms across the country. The grim outlook comes as U.S. agricultural and livestock exports to Korea have exceeded imports by $8 billion to $10 billion annually over the past five years — yet the U.S. government continues to press Korea to increase imports. Last year alone, Korea recorded a trade deficit of $8.94 billion in the sector, according to the country's agricultural ministry.

The farmers' concerns have grown since Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo suggested on July 14 that Korea might offer greater access to its agriculture markets for certain products — such as rice, beef and apples — to avoid or reduce the proposed tariff, which the Donald Trump administration said it will impose by Aug. 1.

Song Jong-man, an apple farmer representing local farmers in North Gyeongsang Province and a member of the Korean Successor Advanced Farmers Federation (KAFF), emphasized the high production costs of apple farming in Korea, which cannot sustain any further decline in sales. Apples are among the products the Trump administration has pushed Korea to ease quarantine restrictions on for imports.

“Basically, apples from trees that are less than four years old are not ripe and cannot be sold. It takes at least six to seven years for an apple farm to become established and start turning a profit. There are farmers who have just started their businesses, especially in Gangwon Province, and they will be even more vulnerable to cheaper U.S. imports,” said Song, who farms in Cheongsong County, a major apple producing area.

Approximately 23,000 apple farms operate across Korea, according to Song.

“We are also facing rising costs for fertilizers and wages. We keep finding new types of weeds that are resistant to fertilizers, forcing us to invest in alternative solutions. This is due to climate change and the overall temperature increase. Daily wages per worker have risen from 70,000 won ($50) from 2017 to up to 150,000 won. Hiring more than a dozen workers to trim orchard branches for three or four days can cost millions of won,” Song said.

Yang Kwang-suk, a cattle farmer in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, said most hanwoo, or Korean beef, farmers are struggling to make a profit due to high production costs. He criticized the idea of increasing U.S. beef imports.

Korea has banned the import of U.S. beef from cattle aged 30 months or older since 2008, following an outbreak of mad cow disease in the United States. The Trump administration is now pushing for that restriction to be lifted. Despite the ban, Korea currently spends more on U.S. beef imports than any other country in the world, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

Yang said that except for beef graded “one-plus” or “two-plus,” lower-grade beef is not profitable at all.

“Hanwoo production has nearly doubled compared to the past, thanks to advances in livestock fattening techniques. Each cow now weighs at least 800 kilograms, sometimes even up to a ton, whereas they used to average under 400 kilograms. With such abundance, the market price of hanwoo hardly rises,” said Yang, who heads the North Chungcheong regional chapter of KAFF.

“On top of that, we have basic expenses to cover — feed costs alone have nearly doubled. While we're already struggling to make a profit at current prices, how can we lower them further to compete with U.S. imports?”

Hong Young-shin, a rice farmer in Sinan, South Jeolla Province, also warned that additional U.S. imports would drive down domestic rice prices and inflict financial losses on local farmers.

“Last year I suffered a deficit of over 40 million won due to the surge in imports that increased supply and undercut domestic rice prices,” Hong said.

Last year, Korea imported 130,000 tons of U.S. rice, under its trade rate quota — the highest volume among other rice exporters to Korea, accounting for 32 percent of Korea's entire import volume set by trade rate quota — while it exported 2,600 tons to the U.S.

“If we import even more U.S. rice because of that tariff, further loss would be inevitable," Hong added.

The farmers said that if more U.S. imports land in Korea, it will only be a matter of time before their businesses close.

According to Yang, some 7,000 hanwoo farms will probably close each year. There are over 76,000 hanwoo farms nationwide, half of which are small to medium-sized operations with 50 or fewer cattle.

“Unless a hanwoo farm has 100 or more cows and an automated system to manage them efficiently, it struggles to attract young farmers to continue the business. Older farmers also face challenges due to health issues and harsh summer and winter conditions. If cheaper imports start flooding the market, many will close their farms permanently even faster,” Yang said.

Song said the impact would affect all domestic apple farms, leaving them cash-strapped and unable to cover even their production costs.

“We have already seen U.S. agricultural imports increase by more than 56 percent over the past 15 years since the free trade agreement took effect in 2011. Those cheaper imports have been steadily eroding our sales,” he said.

Hong also said the impact would beleaguer the country’s total 350,000 rice-farming households.

“It would affect all of them. Everyone will be impacted in one way or another,” he said.