Agricultural News
With a Trade Deal in the Bag, NCBA's Kent Bacus Says Nothing Stands in the Way of US Beef's Domination in Japan
Tue, 08 Oct 2019 20:07:39 CDT
On Monday, the US and Japan signed the trade agreement announced last week by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Kent Bacus, director of international trade and market access for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, says this development is tremendous news for the US beef industry.
"this was an important step forward in our relationship with the Japanese," he said. "Even though we do a lot of business with the Japanese, we don't have any rules that are specific to the US and Japan."
Bacus explains that for the beef industry specifically, the terms of this agreement puts US beef on par with its international competitors in the Japanese marketplace. With the prospect of this agreement taking affect as soon as January 1, 2020, US beef will sooner rather than later enjoy a tariff reduction from 38.5% down to the same level as those members of the CPTPP agreement which the US had opted out of upon President Trump's election. Bacus says that while quality is very important to Japanese consumers, price is also an important factor to them. With a level playing field, he says the US will have no match.
"I think we have a significant advantage. The quality, the marbling, the consistency of production- no one can match us in that," he said. "So, this is a great opportunity to capitalize on growing beef demand in Japan and to put more dollars in the pockets of our producers."
Listen to Bacus talk more about the significance of the US-Japanese Trade Deal on today's Beef Buzz, with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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