A trade team from Nebraska led by Governor Pete Ricketts was in Japan last week. He says after meeting with various Japanese commodity groups, one concern that came up is how the free trade agreement between Japan and the European Union will negatively impact Nebraska’s pork exports to Japan.
However, he says they heard about some very promising trends with Japanese diets shifting away from seafood to more meat.
Ricketts says both younger and older populations in Japan are consuming more meat.
Ricketts says while the U.S. has lost market share to Australia on beef exported to Japan, most of the Japanese prefer U.S. beef because of its higher quality. However, the sticking point is the cost, with the tariff going up on U.S. product.
