Doud: Talks With Japan Must Start Soon

Time is of the essence for the United States to reach a bilateral trade agreement with Japan.

"They're absolutely a critical market for us when it comes to beef, pork and poultry,” said Gregg Doud is Chief Ag negotiator for the U-S Trade Representative's Office.  “And we've got a real challenge here in that Japan has deals that'll enter into place soon with Australia and Canada, and I believe it's in April of next year, they have a deal coming with the European Union. And so, we've got to move quickly here, or we're not going to have the same level playing field. Those countries are going to have lower tariffs in Japan than we are, and we recognize that, and we're trying to address that as quickly as we can."

Doud said under trade promotion authority timelines, the goal is to begin negotiations with Japan at the start of 2019, and the hope is to wrap up talks by the end of March.