Japanese cattle farmers worry over impact of US-Japan trade deal
 

 

Japanese cattle farmers, who are already facing challenges as they adapt to terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and a deal with the European Union, see no good news in the recent trade deal between the United States and Japan, AFP reported in late September. 

 

The farmers are concerned of the bigger pressure the US trade deal will exert on their industry. According to Harumi Yoshikawa, an official in charge of livestock at an agricultural cooperative in Hokkaido, Japan is able to hold firmly its position in the beef market due to the quality of its meat. However, the entry of US beef is a worry as it "rivals (Japanese beef) in terms of quality," Yoshikawa said.
 

One local farmer highlighted the cheaper pricing of US beef, and some consumers may prefer to consume this over Japanese beef, which "offers a sense of safety to consumers."

 

Beef cattle farmers aren't the only parties affected; milk cow farmers also voiced concern over the US-Japan deal.

 

Under the latest deal announced last month, Japan will remove or cut tariffs on $7.2 billion worth of US food and agricultural products.
 

The deal "will be a further blow to small cow farmers like us who keep just 30 to 50 cows," said a dairy and beef cattle farmer in Kanagawa prefecture, south of Tokyo.

 

"Various costs -- the price of feed crops, salaries for workers -- are already weighing on us, and this deal will be another factor to worry about in terms of the future of this business," he said.

 

Japanese experts also wondered if the country's negotiators have done enough to protect local farmers.

 

"Japan could have drawn more concessions from the US because it is (the) Americans who withdrew from the TPP" and wanted more access, argued Akio Shibata, head of the Natural Resource Research Institute and former researcher for trading house Marubeni.

 

"Even if the levels of tariff cuts are same as those of the TPP, it will discourage Japanese farmers - who are already struggling to survive - from continuing their businesses," he said.

 

Japan's agriculture sector accounts for just 1% of its GDP.

 

The deal announced last month is only the first round of the talks, with Washington saying the second phase will include Japan's auto sector.

 

Nobuhiro Suzuki, an expert on agricultural trade at the University of Tokyo, opined that Japanese negotiators were attempting to protect the auto sector at the expense of the country's agricultural industry.

The "mindset is if the US threatens them with punitive measures on the auto sector, they offer (compromise in) agriculture," he told AFP.

 

"The result will be a further reduction of agricultural production in this country."

 

- AFP