Japanese officials are threatening over $400 million in retaliation against the United States over the Trump administration’s steel and aluminum tariffs. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Kevin Kester says with Japan as the number one customer for U.S. beef this is very concerning, but not surprising.
Kester says although Japan hasn’t said which commodities they’ll target, he believes beef would be at the center piece of that retaliation.
Kester says trade agreements can sometimes head off these disputes and if the U.S. had a bilateral deal with Japan in place it would be a launching pad for discussions over trade concerns. He says so far Japan has been cool to the idea of a bilateral agreement.
Two months ago the Trump administration applied a 25-percent tariff on imported steel and 10-percent imported aluminum. It also failed to give Japan a temporary or permanent exemption. Japan’s steel exports to the U.S. total some $2 billion, while aluminum exports are small.
