President Donald Trump signed an agreement this week that will eliminate or lower Japanese tariffs for certain U.S. agricultural products. Other agricultural goods will receive preferential U.S.-specific quotas.
The agreement restores benefits for American farmers which were lost when Trump pulled out of a broad Asia-Pacific pact in his first week in office. It also provides for limited use of safeguards by Japan for surges in various products such as beef, pork, whey and oranges.
While $5.2 billion of more than $14.1 billion in U. S. food and agricultural products imported by Japan in 2018 were duty free, the first stage of the tariff agreement will eliminate or reduce tariffs on an additional $7.2 billion of U.S. food and agricultural products.
Once fully implemented, more than 90 percent of U.S. food and agricultural products imported into Japan will either be duty-free or receive preferential tariff access.
The U.S. will also reduce or eliminate tariffs on industrial goods such as machine tools, steam turbines, bicycles, and musical instruments.
“The U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement will provide America’s farmers with enhanced market access in our third largest agricultural export market,” said Shinsuke J. Sugiyama, the Japanese ambassador to the U.S. “And we are also committed to providing access to high-quality U.S. food and agricultural products to Japan’s 127 million consumers.”
The countries also reached a separate agreement that addresses priority areas of digital trade, such as prohibitions on imposing customs duties on digital products transmitted electronically such as videos, music, e-books, software and games, as well as prohibiting arbitrary access to computer source code and algorithms.
Japan has historically ranked as one of Georgia’s top ten trading partners. In 2018, Japan ranked as Georgia’s seventh largest export market, with $1.4 billion in exports to the country. Japan also ranks as Georgia’s fifth largest trading partner overall, with $7.5 billion in trade. The country is also Georgia’s fourth largest import market with $6.18 billion in imports.
Georgia’ Aerospace industry generated $9.1 billion in exports in 2018, with Japan ranking among the State’s top five markets. Japan also remains a top export market for Georgia’s medical devices and pharmaceuticals industries, with a record $1.7 billion in 2018.
See Trump sign the agreement below:
