Missouri signs letter of intent with Taiwan

Taiwanese officials met with Gov. Jay Nixon and representatives of the agricultural industry Oct. 2 to sign a letter of intent as part of an agricultural goodwill trade mission.

The trade mission kicked off in Washington, D.C., last week. Participants met with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to solidify existing working relationships and pledge additional purchases of U.S. agricultural products.

In Missouri, Taiwan's delegates signed a letter of intent to buy between 303 million and 413 million bushels of U.S. corn and up to 750,000 metric tons of corn co-products at a value of $1.69 billion to $2.37 billion, according to a news release from the Missouri Corn Merchandising Council. Taiwanese delegates also signed similar letters of intent with Iowa, Indiana and Illinois.

This is the Taiwanese delegation's seventh visit to the U.S. According to the letter of intent, Taiwan is the seventh-largest export market for U.S. agriculture products, generating more than $3.5 billion of trade revenue for farmers in 2008.