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Japan has rules in place to increase tariffs on sensitive products to protect its domestic producers when imports reach pre-determined thresholds and has decided to apply them to beef from 1 August. The measure will apply until next March.
Japan's main supplier Australia is exempt from the measure thanks to a free-trade agreement. Mexico enjoys the same protection.
US hit
With US president Donald Trump's decision to suspend the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), however, the increased tariff will apply to the 90,000t of American beef shipped to Japan annually.
This is the top outlet for US beef exports, worth $1.5bn last year, according to the US Department of Agriculture. The US is also the second-largest supplier of beef to Japan.
This would harm our important bilateral trade relationship with Japan on agricultural products
US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue warned that the measure was likely to slow down sales of US beef to Japan. "This would harm our important bilateral trade relationship with Japan on agricultural products. It would also negatively affect Japanese consumers by raising prices and limiting their access to high-quality US frozen beef," he said in a statement, asking the Japanese authorities to re-consider their decision.
The increased tariff will also hit Canada and New Zealand, which each shipped 11,000t of frozen beef to Japan last year.
EU trade deal not in force
As the trade agreement signed in principle between the EU and Japan last month is not yet in force, the measure also applies to EU imports. Although this is a promising market, shipments are very small at this stage. European beef leaders in Japan Poland and Ireland exported just 151t and 120t to the country last year.
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