Doud: U.S. Must Continue To Look At Ways To Expand In Japan

Japan will start cutting tariffs for some of U.S. agriculture’s biggest competitors, especially for beef, starting this weekend.  Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Chile will all benefit from lower Japanese tariffs, starting Sunday.   That, after the U.S. pulled out of TPP, last year and the remaining 11-nations made their own separate deal.

Chief Ag Negotiator in the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office, Gregg Doud, told the Senate Ag Committee in September Japan is a key market for beef and many other American commodities.

“Increasingly our dialogue with Japan continues to be a priority for us at USTR.  A high level of Japanese officials came to USTR to discuss ways to expand and improve our bilateral trade.  These conversations are continuing when we fully recognize the importance to U.S. Agriculture of expanding market access into Japan.”

Doud added USTR is determined to put American producers on a level playing field with other countries such as Australia, Canada and the EU.

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