Agriculture Groups Ask USTR Lighthizer to Match or Better TPP Terms With Japan

Dozens of agriculture trade groups and companies wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to tell him that "the U.S. food and agriculture industry is increasingly disadvantaged by competing regional and bilateral agreements with Japan that have already been implemented, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the European Union-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EU-Japan EPA)."

These groups, who sent the letter April 22, said Japan recently lowered tariffs for the second time on agriculture imports from the European Union and the countries that chose to ratify the TPP. The U.S. decided to exit TPP just after Trump took office. "As a result, U.S. exporters of wheat, beef, pork, dairy, wine, potatoes, fruits and vegetables, and other products are facing collapse of their Japanese market share as these lucrative sales are handed over to their competitors," the letter said.

So, the groups said, they hope that American negotiators can match the access competitors are getting, that those tariff reductions be accelerated, and that "where possible," the U.S. receive better terms. (Japan has already said it won't go beyond previous concessions in TPP.) They also asked USTR to address non-tariff barriers for biotechnology and sanitary and phytosanitary issues.