A Governor-led trip to the United Kingdom and Ireland looked to expand trade opportunities for South Dakota businesses.
The trip offered some unexpected opportunities for two of South Dakota’s big industries: beef and ethanol.
In June, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order detailing some trade agreements with the United Kingdom. In that, he said the US-UK Economic Prosperity Deal would create “billions of increased market access for beef, ethanol and other American agricultural exports.”
That deal dropped UK tariffs on beef and ethanol to zero, down from 20% and 19% respectively. It also increased quotas on the products into the U.K. from the U.S.
Gov. Larry Rhoden said while it added to the trip, he’ll chalk it up to “good timing.”
“Well, I think coincidence is the correct answer to that, because we’d had this mission scheduled for a number of months,” Rhoden said.
He said the focus of the trip was on several areas, but on the ag side it was pointed at beef and ethanol. Rhoden said the trip was a chance to keep South Dakota "Open for Opportunity" both at home and abroad.
“England is roughly the same land mass as South Dakota. The entire country of England about the same land mass, yet our population represents 1% of their population. They have a hundred times more people and half the land mass," Rhoden said. "So, it’s pretty easy to understand the situation they’re in. They need a lot of consumables: beef, ethanol and stuff like that. And we’re producing it.”
Rhoden said exact trade deals aren’t known yet, but he expects positive results.
To hear the full conversation, click the audio player above.
