The US and Japan have signed a bilateral trade agreement to lower Japan’s massive tariffs on US beef
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) President Jennifer Houston said, “For the past few years, US beef producers have benefitted greatly from growing demand for US beef in Japan. While Japanese consumers enjoy high quality US beef, they unfortunately pay a higher price for beef due to the massive 38.5 per cent tariff.”
“Removing that tariff allows more Japanese consumers to enjoy more beef at a more competitive price. The announcement is welcome news for American families who produce US beef and Japanese families who purchase it,” she added.
In 2018, Japanese consumers purchased US$2.07bn of US beef. US beef currently faces a massive 38.5 per cent tariff in Japan, while competitors from Australia, Canada, Mexico and New Zealand face a 26.6 per cent tariff.
“I was deeply honoured to attend the ceremony at the White House where we celebrated a bilateral trade agreement with Japan. As a beef producer, I understand the value of exports to my bottom line, and President Trump understands that increased access to foreign markets like Japan is the economic stimulus we need,” Houston stated.
In addition to beef, the US-Japan trade agreement benefits many other agricultural products, according to the Farm Bureau.
The Japan bilateral agreement remains essentially untouched by all the trade benefits that the US would have gained in Japan under the TPP.
The agreement immediately removes all tariffs on US exports of sweet corn, almonds, broccoli and prunes, among other things. Other tariffs for products such as ethanol, cheese and whey, fresh cherries and other farm and ranch products will be phased out over a number of years. The US will also benefit from increased export quotas for products such as corn starch, malt, potato starch, fructose and more.
