On this week’s audio report from the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), Joel Haggard, USMEF senior vice president for the Asia Pacific region discusses Taiwan, which will soon be welcoming a new presidential administration. On May 20, Tsai Ing-wen will be sworn in as Taiwan’s first female president. Her party, the Democratic Progressive Party or DPP, will also hold a majority of the seats in the Taiwanese legislature.

The change to administration is important as Taiwan has recently served as a very strong trading partner for the U.S. red meat industry. Last year, U.S. beef exports to Taiwan set a new value record of $318.5 million, while pork exports were just under $40 million. U.S. red meat imports do face some product restrictions in Taiwan, however, especially pork, which must be ractopamine-free. The ractopamine-free requirement has previously limited the U.S. industry’s ability to retain market share in Taiwan.

In the report, Haggard expects the U.S. to be able to maintain a positive trading relationship with the new administration, noting that of the national candidates, President-elect Tsai had the most moderate position on the ractopamine issue.

“Because more U.S. pork plants are producing ractopamine-free pork in order to comply with import requirements in mainland China, this may also boost the volume of U.S. pork available to Taiwanese importers this year,” he added.

Listen to the full report here:
USMEF Audio Report, Taiwan National Elections