Japan is temporarily raising tariffs on U.S. beef imports. That’s because volumes exceeded the levels agreed to between the two countries for the fiscal year. In the short-term, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Senior Director of International Trade and Market Access Kent Baucus says this isn’t a bad thing. “This is a sign of our success in selling beef in the Japanese market.” The tariff rate will go back down after 30 days. Baucus says because the safeguard is triggered, the U.S. and Japan will meet again soon to set a new safeguard. “We know our government is going to be working on this quickly. The first meeting will likely happen in the next week or so, and thenthe consultations will conclude within 90 days. Hopefully, they’ll get a solution in place to avoid triggering this mechanism again.”
