US and Japan’s beef trade on the table with TPP
24/11/2015
Japan is the US’s top export market for beef and beef products, with sales totalling $1.6 billion in 2014.
According to the Transpacific Partnership, which is currently being ratified through members’ governments, Japan will eliminate duties on 74% of its beef and beef product imports within 16 years, with substantial cuts to the remaining tariffs.
A group of former US agriculture secretaries have issued an open letter urging Congress to pass the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). It said: “We have long had aspirations to sell more of our products to Japan, and we'll now have that enhanced opportunity. But TPP also opens up new markets in the growing economies of Vietnam and Malaysia.
“No trade agreement ever negotiated – TPP included – is perfect. But we should never let perfection be the enemy of the good, and this is a very good trade agreement. In addition to its market access benefits, it will establish the rules of the game for international trade – and help drive up standards for the entire world – for years to come.”
Japan has said it will expand handouts to beef farmers by raising the percentage of losses covered by the government to 90% from 80%.
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