President Donald Trump has asked Japan’s Prime Minister to buy a huge amount of U.S. products including soybeans and wheat. U.S. Wheat Associate’s Steve Mercer says Japan has been and continues to be a lucrative market for U.S. wheat although his request is appreciated. He says Japan is a complex market because their flour millers ask their government to make any wheat purchases they need.
He says the U.S. needs a bilateral agreement with Japan because by not being in the CTPP, U.S. products face higher tariffs than the countries in that deal.
Mercer says U.S. negotiators understand the needs for U.S. wheat growers and that so far the bilateral talks seem to be going well.
The Japanese news agency says their government is mulling President Trump’s request.
