The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) recently reported on the status of its consultations with Japan, which were aimed at adjusting Japan?s safeguard trigger levels for imports of U.S. beef.
U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) President and CEO Dan Halstrom expressed his appreciation for the USTR?s prioritization of the safeguard threshold and stressed the importance of achieving these adjustments.
?Whenever we exceed the threshold, we will trigger the safeguard, which, in fact, happened back in March of 2021,? Halstrom said. ?We went from a 25.8% tariff on U.S. beef into Japan, and we went up to 38.5% for 4 or 5 weeks. This may not sound real disruptive, but, in fact, the timing of it is extremely disruptive. March/April is right before one of the busiest consumption times of the year: the Golden Week holidays. So, of course, our concern going forward is, if we can?t come to an agreement, we run the threat of triggering the safeguard each and every year. As we look forward into April of 2022, we have the same issue. If we exceed the threshold- which we believe we have a very good chance of doing- we will go from the current duty level of 25% up to 30%. It goes down slightly each and every year, but, nevertheless, we?re still at a significant disadvantage.?
Halstrom also said that the risk of triggering safeguards could cause Japan to look at other competitors.
?Japanese importers are well aware that the U.S. runs this risk of triggering a safeguard year,? Halstrom said. ?Whereas our primary competition around the world- Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, etc., that are CPTPP trading partners- they do not have any risk of triggering a safeguard.?
Halstrom added that these adjustments to the safeguard threshold will also allow the U.S. to prepare for the impending resurgence of Australian cattle to Japanese imports.
