President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced at the G-7 Conference that the two countries have agreed in principle, to a trade deal. The focus of the deal, per the New York Post, was agriculture, industrial tariffs and digital trade.
“We’ve been working on a deal with Japan for a long time. And we’ve agreed in principle,” Trump said, adding that the deal would amount to “billions and billions of dollars.”
Industry trade groups praised the deal. The North American Meat Institute released the following statement:
“The Meat Institute applauds the Trump Administration for negotiating better access to a critical and growing market for American beef and pork,” said Meat Institute CEO Julie Anna Potts. “The U.S. will be better able to compete with the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership nations and the European Union for valuable market share.”
Despite steep tariffs, last year the U.S. exported more than $3.6 billion in beef and pork to Japan.
“Frozen chicken, turkey, and processed egg products will receive favorable tariff reductions enabling our products to compete more effectively with those of countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council (USAPEEC), National Chicken Council (NCC), National Turkey Federation (NTF) and United Egg Producers (UEP) said in a joint statement issued Monday.
“While this is just the first stage of a bilateral agreement, it is welcome news and we would like to thank President Trump, Secretary Perdue and Secretary Lighthizer for their work negotiating trade deals that stand to benefit U.S. poultry and egg products.”
Japan is the leading market for U.S. egg product exports, and the second-largest market for U.S. turkey exports. Japan also is a very promising market for U.S. chicken companies that are willing to provide the specific chicken cuts that Japanese buyers are seeking.
“Japan is a significant market for United States agriculture exports, making today a good day for American agriculture,” said USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue in a statement. “By removing existing barriers for our products, we will be able to sell more to the Japanese markets. At the same time we will able to close gaps to better allow us to compete on a level playing field with our competitors. I thank President Trump and Ambassador Lighthizer for their constant support of America’s farmers and ranchers and their hard work negotiating better trade deals around the globe.”
Sources: New York Post, NAMI, National Chicken Council, USDA
