Japan has repeatedly said it will not eliminate tariffs on agricultural goods it considers “sacred” – dairy, rice, sugar, beef, pork, wheat and barley. The U.S. groups said Japan is demanding special treatment.
The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), the International Dairy Foods Assn. (IDFA), the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), the USA Rice Federation and U.S. Wheat Associates said Japan needs to be jettisoned from the multinational talks unless “that nation agrees to provide significant market access for the U.S.”, including elimination of Japan’s gate price system and all tariffs.
“The U.S. has never agreed to let a trading partner ‘exempt’ as many tariff lines as Japan is demanding – 586 – in the 17 free trade agreements the U.S. has concluded since 2000, only 233 tariff lines combined have been exempted from tariff elimination,” said NPPC. The U.S. cannot agree to Japan’s demands as it would set a precedent for all future trade negotiations that is unacceptable, the pork group added.