U.S. agriculture official in Taiwan to meet local meat industry reps

Taipei, Sept. 29 (CNA) Luke J. Lindberg, a senior official in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is visiting Taiwan on an agribusiness trade mission to meet with local meat industry representatives and drum up business for American food exporters.

During the visit, which ends Wednesday, Lindberg will meet with leaders from the Taiwan branch of the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) and Taiwan's meat industry to expand trade opportunities, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement Monday.

Lindberg, the under secretary of agriculture for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, will also take part in a forum co-hosted by the AIT and the U.S. Grains and BioProducts Council (USGBC), it said.

Before taking up the post in USDA in August, Lindberg was CEO and president of South Dakota Trade, as well as chief of staff and chief strategy officer at the Export-Import Bank of the United States, according to the AIT, which represents U.S. interests in Taiwan in the absence of official ties.

According to USDA statistics, Taiwan is the eighth-largest market for U.S. agricultural exports, with trade increasing 16 percent from 2019 to 2024.

The U.S. remains Taiwan's top foreign supplier of agricultural products, accounting for 25 percent of its agricultural import market, USDA data showed.