Japan

President Trump Threatens New Round of Tariffs Over the Weekend: Here’s the Latest

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 13:39:37 GMT

U.S. commodity markets were down to start the week in Sunday night trade as the markets digested the latest tariff announcement by President Donald Trump. On Saturday, President Trump threatened to impose 30% tariffs on Mexico and the European Union starting on August 1. The announcement came after a string of new tariff threats last week, as the Trump administration’s deadline for trade deals came due.

On Monday, President Trump continued with tariff talk, saying he would implement “severe tariffs” on Russia unless a peace deal is reached with Ukraine within 50 days.

He provided few details on how they would be implemented but described them as 100% secondary tariffs, meaning they would target Russia’s trading partners in an effort to isolate Moscow in the global economy.

The latest tariff threats weren’t good news for farmers looking to price fertilizer for fall, as StoneX Group says Russia is the United States’ top destination for both urea and UAN imports. StoneX points out Russia’s market chair has “grown substantially in recent years.”

Monday’s news follows a week where many anticipated trade deals. Instead, President Trump made a series of announcements with new tariffs. The new tariffs on Mexico and the European Union, which Trump announced Saturday, capped off a week of sweeping tariff threats.

Earlier in the week, Trump warned of a possible:

50% tariff on all copper imports
50% tariff on all goods from Brazil
35% tariff on Canadian goods
25% tariff on goods from Japan
25% tariff on imports from South Korea
200% tariff on imported pharmaceuticals

The positive side of the announcements is the Trump administration says any products covered under the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (UMCA) won’t face the new tariffs.

President Trump also sent letters to both Japan and South Korea last week, saying their goods will be taxed at 25% starting August 1st.

The President posted the two letters he sent to those countries’ leaders on his Truth Social site. In the letter to South Korea, he stated when it comes to Korea’s tariff and non-tariff polices and trade barriers, the relationship between the two countries has been far from reciprocal. He added the 25% tariff was far less than what he says is needed to eliminate a trade deficit disparity.

The letter to Japan added if Japanese companies decide to build or manufacture a product within the U.S., there will be no tariffs. Japanese and U.S. negotiators have been working for several weeks to try and reach a deal.

Lack of Progress Impacts Commodity Prices
The lack of trade announcements last week was just one factor that caused corn prices to tank, according to AgMarket.net’s Matt Bennett. While rain in the upper Corn Belt was also bearish for the markets, little to no movement on trade is also pressuring prices.

“We had no trade announcements, and then we continued to talk about tariffs. The unfortunate reality right now is it appears the administration is playing the long game, trying to get people to come to the table with better trade deals than what we currently have seen. But it certainly isn’t doing any favors for the corn market,” Bennett said on U.S. Farm Report this weekend. “I think something like a big trade agreement certainly could tilt the tide more in the favor of the corn market moving higher. Until you get that, with weather being as good as what it is, there’s nothing there.”

It’s not all bearish, though. Arlan Suderman of StoneX Group says the 50% tariff on Brazil is actually bullish for beef.

“We already have a shortage of protein in America with the cattle herd being shrinking over recent years because of lingering drought in the western half of the country, and supplies are tight. We’re just getting to the point of trying to rebuild those supplies, which holding back heifers, tightens up the supply of meat even more. We’re feeding to record-high carcass weights to try to fill the void. We’re increasing imports to record levels. Brazil is the primary supplier of those imports: 27% of our imports come from Brazil in the first five months of the year, according to the latest data we have available, that’s 666 million pounds. That’s 4% of consumption,” Suderman says.

If you think 4% doesn’t sound like a big deal, Suderman says it is - especially considering meat demand in the U.S. has turned out to be inelastic.

“We’ve been shifting from a starch-based diet more heavily toward protein-based. And as the prices go up, we’re actually increasing demand for beef and the other proteins - but we don’t have the supply of it. I think that could be a real problem going forward for the meat industry and the meat supply. We will have to find somewhere else to get that meat,” Suderman says.

Are Trade Deals Close?

While President Trump initially stated he had reached trade agreements with 200 countries, only a few have been officially announced. These include deals with China, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam, however. Negotiations with other countries are ongoing, with the administration extending the deadline for tariff-related negotiations to August 1.

The European Union says it was working on sealing a trade deal with the U.S. by the end of this month, and the European Commission president says the EU was working closely with the Trump administration to reach a deal.

Underutilized U.S. Pork Cuts Become Center of the Plate In Japan

Wed, 07 May 2025 19:57:25 GMT

Two ramen restaurant chains in Japan have put typically underutilized pork cuts at the center of the plate adding more value to U.S.pork exports. Dan Halstrom, U.S. Meat Export Federation president and CEO, explains USMEF develops relationships with food service in Japan to continually find new uses for U.S. pork.

“We’re constantly, in our various offices, looking at opportunities to add value,” Halstrom says. “It’s even more important today with the uncertain trade situation and some economic headwinds in some of these key markets. We’ve had some success here recently in our Japan market with a ramen noodle chain, actually called Ramen Kagetsu. They have 250 restaurants throughout the whole country of Japan, and we’ve recently worked with them to shift their current supply source, which was dependent upon EU pork belly, and now they will be shifting over to using U.S. false lean.”

False lean is a piece off the boneless loin on the shoulder end, which is very flavorful and highly marbled. The company projects utilizing 40 metric tons of the product each month.

“This is really a good example of adding value as false lean typically would go into trimmings or into some sort of lower value further processing, and the fact that we have positioned it into the center of the plate, so to speak, in food service, we’re really excited about that,” Halstrom explains.

The Japanese ramen chain, Kairikiya, has also switched to U.S. pork cushion meat, previously using Mexican pork picnic as its protein source for ramen noodle dishes.

“Effective in May of this year we’ll see 100% switch from Mexican picnics to U.S. cushion meat,” Halstrom says. “The usage rate is about 1000 metric tons per year, so this is very significant in terms of a volume shift.”

Your next read: Pork Profit Tracker: Farrow-to-Finish Margin For the Week at $51.37

Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins Says New Deals May Be Struck Over Tariffs By End of Week

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 00:23:18 GMT

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Tuesday that new deals could be struck with other countries over trade tariffs by the end of this week.

Rollins made the comments in an interview to Fox News host Bret Baier on the network’s “Special Report” show.

Why It’s Important

President Donald Trump said last week that he would impose a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the U.S. and higher duties on dozens of other countries, including some of Washington’s biggest trading partners, rattling global markets and bewildering U.S. allies.

After China retaliated with its own tariffs, the United States said on Tuesday that 104% duties on imports from China would take effect shortly after midnight, even as the Trump administration moved to quickly start talks with other trading partners targeted by Trump’s sweeping tariff plan.

“I believe, sincerely, it will be sooner rather than later. I believe we’ll be hearing about new deals that are being struck, perhaps by the end of the week,”

Rollins said, adding 70 countries had reached out to the U.S. for talks.

U.S. stocks dropped on Tuesday for a fourth straight trading day since Trump’s tariffs announcement last week.

The administration has scheduled talks with South Korea and Japan, two close allies and major trading partners, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is due to visit next week.
Trump’s sweeping tariffs have raised fears of recession and upended a global trading order that has been in place for decades.

Your Next Read:

How Will Trump’s Tariffs Disrupt The Trajectory of U.S. Ag Exports?

U.S. Soybean Exports Now Face 60% Tariff to China, That Could Grow as Tariff Tit for Tat Plays Out

Ag Industry Leaders Explore Consumer Demand for U.S. Red Meat Quality in Japan

Wed, 18 Sep 2024 23:25:39 GMT

A team of 21 farmers and farm group representatives traveled to Japan as the Heartland Team to see firsthand the promotion of U.S. beef and pork in the region by the U.S. Meat Export Federation. The team received market briefings from U.S. Embassy and USMEF staff, spoke with students at a culinary school, viewed U.S. product displays in retail outlets, visited a beef tongue processing facility, a wagyu farm and witnessed a beef carcass auction at the Tokyo Meat Market.

The utilization of beef tongue in Japan made an impression on the group, says Nebraska cattleman Mark Goes.

“Tongue product is everywhere, right down to tongue flavored pretzels,” he explains. “Japan imports a tremendous amount of tongue from the United States, and they have learned to utilize it to where it’s favored over ribeye steak for them.”

Surprisingly, the tongue is a standard and a staple for them there the group learned during their visit.

“I knew of that issue before, but to see it firsthand and the magnitude with which it’s ingrained into the society, it’s just incredible,” Goes adds.

Quality matters more than price in the Japanese market, which is a characteristic that sets the standard for U.S. pork production, according to Missouri pork producer Jesse Heimer.

“Relative to quality, Japan actually sets the standard in the United States,” Heimer says. “The quality standard at every plant is based on the color expectation that the Japanese customer wants. And believe it or not, our highest quality pork loins, much of our highest quality pork, ends up in this market here in Japan.

Heimer says that expectation for quality is the standard in the U.S. for export. He appreciated the opportunity to be face-to-face, and hand-to-hand, with customers in Japan.

“The Japanese consumer really appreciates our product, appreciates American pork,” he adds. “It was a great opportunity to see that relationship firsthand and understand that probably wouldn’t be possible without our partnership with USMEF.”

USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom says that’s why it’s important to bring producers to markets like Japan to share how U.S. product is raised.

“We have to continue to tell that story about quality and how we’re different, and I think having producers here in the marketplace, seeing the importance of that—that’s worth the value of the trip itself,” Halstrom explains.

Japan is the leading export market for U.S. beef by volume, totaling 149,051 metric tons through July of this year at a value of $1.2 billion. It is the number three market for U.S. pork exports at 208,121 metric tons with a value of $846 million through July.

USMEF: Red Meat Competitors Stand to Gain Major Advantage in Japan

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 00:12:08 GMT

With the European Union and Japan recently signing a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (EPA) and the 11-member Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) moving toward implementation, the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) has prepared an initial assessment of the potential U.S. pork and beef industry losses that could result from Japan’s participation in these agreements.

USMEF Economist Erin Borror explains that the EU is already Japan’s largest supplier of frozen pork cuts, and has recently made gains in the ground seasoned pork category. Canada, which is a CPTPP participant, is the United States’ largest competitor in Japan’s chilled pork market.

On the beef side, Australia already has a significant tariff rate advantage in Japan through a bilateral trade agreement, but this gap will widen further under CPTPP. Beef from Canada, New Zealand and Mexico will also enjoy more favorable market access in Japan once CPTPP is implemented.

anticipates that both the Japan-EU EPA and CPTPP could enter into force by April 2019, at which point all major non-U.S. suppliers of pork and beef to Japan will have preferential duty access. Japan, Mexico and Singapore have already ratified CPTPP, and once the agreement has been ratified by six participating countries, it will enter into force after 60 days. While no specific timeline has been established for ratification of the Japan-EU EPA, there is a good chance it could enter into force prior to the next Japanese fiscal year, which begins April 1, 2019.

To access the details of USMEF’s initial assessment of this situation, please visit this USMEF Web page . If you have questions or would like an interview with Ms. Borror, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

3 Global Disease Pressures Impacting Livestock Producers

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 00:12:08 GMT

Tariffs and disease—the two words that strike fear into every livestock farmer and stakeholder. Even as trade talks continue, the U.S. is on high alert to make sure several foreign animal disease (FAD) threats stay outside U.S. borders.

African swine fever spreads in Europe and China

On Sept. 9, a case of African swine fever (ASF) was found by Belgian authorities, after three adult wild boars were found dead near the southern village of Étalle, in the Belgian province of Luxembourg. In total, eight infected wild pigs have been found. No cases of disease had been found on commercial pig farms, officials said.

As of press time, China has reported nearly 20 cases of African swine fever (ASF) since July, affecting eight provinces. China has banned transportation of live hog and pig products in 16 regions to help contain the disease spread. The affected areas include the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Jilin, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong, Hubei and Shaanxi as well as the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the city of Shanghai.

China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs says the country’s sow herd, as of August 2018, is 4.8% smaller than a year ago. The sow herd declined just over 1% from the month prior.

The largest portion of the Chinese pig herd rests in the central part of the country. The ban has interrupted supply channels at every level, report many farmers. The Liaoning providence in the northeast exports nearly 20% of its pigs each year to the southern part of the country, under normal conditions. While hog supplies are accumulating in the north with no market access, hog prices in the southern providences have soared.

Pork prices in the Zhejiang province have increased 23% since the outbreak, due to the transportation ban. Complicating pork price disruptions even further is China’s trade war with the U.S. Pork makes up about two-thirds of China’s meat consumption.

Other cases of the disease have been found in Romania this year.

ASF is a highly contagious hemorrhagic disease that produces a wide range of clinical signs and lesions. There is no vaccine or treatment for the disease, but does not affect human health.

Classical Swine Fever resurfaces in Japan after 26 years

Also known as hog cholera, Classical Swine fever , was identified Sept. 9th on a farm located at Gifu Prefecture, in the central area of Japan, killing 80 pigs. The last CSF outbreak in Japan was in 1992. In 2007, the use of vaccination was banned and disease eradication was declared.

While the Gifu Prefecture is not a major area of swine production, it’s only 500 miles from the south region, the highest pig-dense area.

Unrelated to ASF cases in China, CSF does present similar clinical symptoms with mortality rates of nearly 100%. Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) says the remaining 610 pigs on the farm were culled to contain the outbreak and no clear origin of the infection has been found. Additional testing continues. Commercial vaccines are available for the control of CSF.

Exports have been suspended until Japan’s veterinary services can determine if control measures are sufficient.

Japan is also still recovering from the 2013-2016 porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) epidemenic , reports SHIC. On July 9, 2018, USDA-APHIS had published the official notice of the OIE recognition of Japan as free-CSF. Currently, Japan is one of the Top 10 pork-producing countries in the world.

Foot and mouth disease continues to torment China, South Korean farmers

ASF isn’t the only disease China’s Ministry of Agriculture is struggling to contain. An outbreak of foot and mouth disease in a herd of cattle was found Sept. 6, and later confirmed diagnosis of the O-type strain of the disease Sept. 14.

The cattle had been transported to the Xinjiang region from Gansu province. Local authorities in Xinjiang culled 47 cattle following the outbreak. The outbreak is now under control, the Chinese ministry said.

However, this is the eighth case of the O-type strain found in livestock in China this year. In August, China culled 173 pigs due to FMD.

South Korea has also seen reports of the disease this year. In both countries, there is extensive vaccination for the disease, but the efficacy of the vaccine and the compliance to the vaccination regime can vary widely.

Leaders advise U.S. farmers to review farm biosecurity plans

All of these threats underline the need for U.S. producers and feed suppliers to review and increase biosecurity protocols to keep disease threats from affecting the U.S. herd.

Dave Pyburn, DVM, vice president of science and technology for the Pork Checkoff, advises producers to review the Foreign Animal Disease Checklist at pork.org/FAD . “By going through the items on this list, you can improve your biosecurity plan and prepare to register for the voluntary Secure Pork Supply plan, which will help participants maintain business continuity in the event of a FAD,” he says.

According to Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes, losses from ASF could total as much as $8 billion for the pork industry in year one alone. That doesn’t include related losses of $4 billion and $1.5 billion for the affected input commodities of corn and soybeans, respectively.

“Keeping trade-limiting foreign animal diseases, such as ASF, out of the U.S. is critical to pork producers,” said Steve Rommereim, National Pork Board president and a producer from Alcester, South Dakota. “We all need to improve the overall level of FAD preparedness. We hope for the best, but we must prepare for the worst.”

Producers hope a FAD vaccine bank, included the current draft of the next farm bill, will help provide additional resources. Funding of the vaccine bank, however is unclear .

For example, NPPC anticipates the U.S. will need an inventory of 10 million doses of FMD vaccine, the estimated need for the first two weeks of a potential outbreak. The vaccine bank would also need to store FMD antigen against all 23 of the most common types of the disease. Read more by clicking the image below:

Recent Trade Agreements Could Have Big Impact on Japan’s Pork Market

Mon, 15 May 2023 15:35:09 GMT

Following its accession to the World Trade Organization in 1995, Japan relaxed its trade barriers. Even so, Japan continues to employ three (gate-price, ad-valorem and safeguard) tariff mechanisms on most pork product imports, reports USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS).

However, Japan has recently ratified trade agreements with the U.S., European Union (EU), United Kingdom (UK), and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) countries, which comprises Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, that will virtually remove these restrictions. Given that essentially all of Japan’s pork imports originate in these trade agreement partner countries, the trade agreements may greatly impact the Japanese pork market, researchers note.

Pork exports to Japan are estimated to increase, with the U.S. having the highest estimated gains, ERS reports.

“This potential boost in foreign competitiveness could result in lower domestic production, higher import volumes and thus increased availability of lower-cost foreign pork for Japanese consumers,” researchers explain. “This can be seen in the following model estimates that assume the gate price system imposes a burden equal to a 10% ad valorem tariff.”

The estimated changes in value in 2028, relative to the 2018 baseline, are as follows:

• By 2028, Japan’s pork imports would increase by 3.6% for carcasses and half-carcasses, 12.2% for unprocessed meat cuts, and 13.9% for processed pork products.
• Japan’s domestic production would decrease by 4.2, 11.6, and 11.8% for carcasses and half-carcasses, unprocessed meat cuts, and processed pork products, respectively.
• Total pork exports to Japan would increase in value (in millions) by $281.0, $244.5, $232.8, and $0.21 for the U.S., EU, CPTPP and UK, respectively.
• Most of these export gains to Japan would come from the unprocessed pork sector, with gains of $168.6, $201.3, $210.5, and $0.21 million for the U.S., EU, CPTPP and UK, respectively.
• The remainder of the gains would primarily be from the processed pork sector, with an additional $112.3, $43.1, and $22.3 million in exports from the U.S., EU and CPTPP, respectively. The UK does not currently compete in this sector.
• The carcass and half-carcass sector is extremely small, and export increases in this sector would only have a marginal impact on the total pork exports of each country.
• Societal well-being of the United States, CPTPP, and EU would increase by $59.3 million, $32.8 million, and $17.8 million, respectively.

“If the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement (USJTA) agreement did not exist, the U.S. would be subject to Japan’s WTO gate price tariff system. In this hypothetical scenario, results indicate that the U.S. would lose a large portion of its market share to Japan’s other trade agreement partners, with the 2028 U.S. market share falling from 34% to 23%. The total value of U.S. pork exports to Japan also would decline by $385.9 million from 2018 levels,” ERS reports.

The study was authored by Eric Davis, Ethan Sabala, Dylan Russell and Jayson Beckman and USDA ERS.

Emerging Post-Pandemic, Consumers in Japan Remain Cautious

Tue, 16 Aug 2022 15:02:33 GMT

Though the COVID-19 pandemic seems so long ago, Japan, one of the largest export markets for U.S. pork and beef, is just starting to emerge from COVID restrictions, the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) reports.

Dan Halstrom, USMEF president and CEO, describes the country and how it is emerging post-pandemic.

“On my way in, [Japan] was the most empty I’ve seen it ever. I think it’ll take a little bit of time for the consumer in Japan to get used to the post-COVID environment,” he says. “It’s going to take a little bit of time for [consumers] to adjust and get used to that.”

Food service also seems to be rebounding at a slow pace.

“I was a bit surprised that food service hadn’t recovered any more than it had. People are fully masked inside and outside. The family style dining sector, especially the yakiniku sector, is seeing some rebound. But that isn’t true for the whole food service sector,” he adds.

Halstrom also believes there will be a lot of upside later in the year for food service, while retail and online e-commerce activity continues to boom.

While U.S. beef remains strong in the Japanese food service sector, Halstrom says Japanese buyers expressed a growing interest in retail pork.

“From the standpoint that certain cuts are maybe a little cheaper than beef, and also the fact that poultry [chicken] prices are so high in Japan, I think pork is well-positioned in that regard. There was a bit of optimism at retail in particular around pork, so that was encouraging,” he notes.

Extreme Growth Potential with Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for U.S. Red Meat Exports

Mon, 25 Apr 2022 19:43:20 GMT

Trade talks with key trading partners on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework are gearing up, and U.S. Meat Export Federation’s assistant vice president of export services Travis Arp has more details on how this might impact U.S. red meat exports.

“Looking at issues like science-based trade, good regulatory practices and transparency with regulations and things that can really open more opportunities for U.S. exporters in a multiple group of sectors,” Arp says will be on the agenda.

Submitting comments on the ‘resilient trade pillar’ of the framework, USMEF explains the economic impacts of the region’s trades.

“In 2021, Japan and South Korea were the largest volume and value markets for U.S. beef, importing a total of 320,737 and 280,143 metric tons (MT) of U.S. beef, respectively; valued at $2.376 billion and $2.382 billion, respectively,” the comments explained. “2021 U.S. pork exports to Japan and Korea were valued at $1.693 billion and $556 million, respectively, making Japan and Korea the second and fifth largest value markets for U.S. pork.”

USMEF’s comments explained that the value of U.S. beef exports to the region increased by 22% from 2020 to 2021, with a 65% in Indonesia alone. Meanwhile, U.S. pork export values increased by 26%, with a 78% increase in the Philippines alone. These statistics show extreme growth when considering the U.S. market share in these areas are relatively low.

As the economic framework is still under construction, Arp believes the goal is to strengthen trade relations with allies in Asia, seeing the region as an opportunity to improve market access and open these markets to U.S. exporters.

“There’s an opportunity to address some of these systemic barriers to trade,” Arp says. “Gaining more beef access into markets, like Korea, and creating more opportunities for plants to get approved in markets like Malaysia and Indonesia, then this could potentially pose a significant boost to red meat exports in the future.”

Other framework details include promoting science-based trade rules, establishing regionalization agreements in the event of a foreign animal disease outbreak, such as African swine fever , and tariffs, quotas and import licenses.

Read USMEF’s full comment detail here .

Record-Breaking Year for Red Meat Exports Spurred on by Trade Agreements

Tue, 15 Feb 2022 19:58:23 GMT

U.S. red meat exports in 2021 were valued at $18.7 billion, the highest in history. Multiple trade agreements aided in reaching those unprecedented levels. U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Economist Erin Borror weighed in on the recent report during the Weekly USMEF Audio Report.

BEEF

The reduction of tariff rates from 40% to 10.7% in the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) boosted U.S. beef exports in 2021. Korea’s consumption per capita increased 40% compared to 2012, Borror said.

The largest tonnage of growth for U.S. beef demand spurred from the U.S. and China Phase One Economic and Trade Agreement. This increased competition resulted in an elevated value of the product.

The U.S-Japan Trade Agreement, though tariffs remain relatively high, also helped level the market playing field for U.S. beef.

In addition, beef exports saw tremendous growth into duty-free free trade agreement (FTA) partners such as Central America, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Peru and Chile.

PORK

“Duty-free access into these Western Hemisphere markets was really critical in moving such a huge increase in volume at higher prices,” Borror said.

U.S. pork saw another record year of exports to Mexico, capitalizing on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s duty-free access.

Central America, specifically Colombia, rebounded in pork export demand, resulting in a 41% increase, despite pork cuts’ increased prices.

The U.S. rose as the top supplier for chilled pork in Korea and has further growth potential as tariffs have been eliminated, she added.

As seen in beef, the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement boosted the position of U.S. pork in the highly competitive market. This agreement has also been essential in lowering tariffs of pork, formerly steady at 20% and set to decline to zero by 2025.

Japanese Show Enthusiasm For U.S. Beef And Pork

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:51:19 GMT

American producers touring Japan this week say enthusiasm is building for U.S. beef, pork and lamb products and the prospect of trade agreement that would result in a “level playing field.”

President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced they had agreed in principle on a trade agreement less than two weeks ago, but once implemented could provide a significant boost to U.S. beef and pork exports.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm with the trade, with customers in Japan,” says Dan Halstrom, U.S. Meat Export Federation president and CEO. “We are operating at a disadvantage at the moment, with a 12% duty disadvantage for the U.S. versus some of our key competitors like Australia, Canada and Mexico.”

Halstrom spoke to reporters via a conference call from Tokyo on Thursday, along with other members of a USMEF-led Heartland team touring Japan this week to see funding dollars at work.

Dean Meyer, Iowa Corn Growers Association director and USMEF Executive Committee member, said he is pleased to see the excitement in Japan for U.S. beef and pork because that helps build a market for U.S. corn.

“Corn growers are committed to partnering with our livestock brands to export red meat,” Meyer said. “One thing that has impressed me is being able to go into the retail (stores) and they had specific pork promotions where they partnered with corn and soybean checkoff dollars to promote, not grain-fed, but U.S. corn and soybean-fed, and I believe that they’re going to promote beef in the same way.”

Dave Preisler, Minnesota Pork Board CEO, told reporters he has been impressed by the contacts USMEF has already established in Japan.

“Business isn’t done country to country; business is done person to person and from business to business, and without those sorts of contacts, business doesn’t happen,” Preisler said. “Countries can set the trading rules, but it’s really people that actually make the deals happen, and I think that when you look at investment in checkoff dollars, especially in the U.S. Meat Export Federation, their goal is to grow the entire meat sector, not just to grow one specific packer’s brand. It is to grow the entire consumption of beef, pork and lamb and that’s why we really appreciate their work.”

Kevin Jones, a cattle feeder from Idaho, said the group’s tour provided an opportunity to see the programs that are promoting beef in Japan.

“It’s great to see how our checkoff dollars are being utilize,” Jones said. “We had 325 people (attending an event) tonight, and they were buyers that really move the needle for us in terms of beef exports to Japan.”

Preisler said that over half the calories in Japan are imported, “and that’s not going to change. They’ve got a tremendous demand for (beef and pork), plus we know that we can supply the volume and quality they are demanding.”

He said sales of U.S. beef and pork in Japan helps put dollars back into rural communities in the Midwest.

U.S. pork depends highly on exports, shipping more than 25% of total production to foreign markets. Dr. Dermot Hayes, an economist at Iowa State University, estimates exports to Japan will grow from $1.6 billion in 2018 to more than $2.2 billion over the next 15 years as a result of the U.S. pork industry gaining market access in Japan as favorable as its competitors, a National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) release said.

Related stories:

Pork And Beef Victory: U.S. And Japan Agree On Trade Principles

Japan May Offer Canada Head Start on Pork Duty to Sway U.S.

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:39:10 GMT

Japan, the world’s largest pork importer, may accelerate tariff talks with Canada to increase pressure on the U.S. to ease demands for cuts in agricultural protection, the Asian nation’s biggest hog farmers group said.

Canada, the largest pork exporter after the U.S. and the European Union, has been in talks with Japan on a bilateral trade pact since November 2012. Japan agreed to almost halve its tariff on Australian pork under a deal reached earlier this month between the two governments. The four countries are among 12 nations negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

“Canada is eager to boost pork sales to Japan and may seek treatment similar to what Japan gave to Australia,” Takashi Koiso, a director at Japan Pork Producers Association, said in an interview in Tokyo. Lawmakers from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party said the tariff reduction Japan offered to Australia is a “red line” for the TPP.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Japanese Economic Minister Akira Amari concluded talks on the TPP in Washington on April 18 without striking a deal on some of the most contentious issues. Japan should agree that it won’t seek exemptions for goods including agricultural as it seeks to complete the deal, Froman said on April 3. President Barack Obama will discuss trade and security with Abe in Tokyo tomorrow.

‘Undermined’
“We cannot accept tariff cuts beyond the level agreed to with Australia, or our industry will be undermined,” said Hisao Kuramoto, the pork association’s managing director.

Costs to produce pork for Japanese farmers are more than double those in the U.S. and Canada as the Asian nation imports almost all of its feed grains. Corn and soybean futures in the U.S., the largest supplier to Japan, have climbed 19 percent and 13 percent this year respectively.

Unlike beef, pork in Japan is produced from breeds coming from overseas, making it difficult to differentiate the quality of the meat from imported products, Kuramoto said.

The nation is the world’s biggest corn importer and bought 6.4 million metric tons last year from the U.S., the top exporter. Japan is also Asia’s second-largest soybean buyer.

If the U.S. pushes through its demand of eliminating tariffs on pork, Japan may see as much as 70 percent of local production, or more than 630,000 tons, displaced by imports, leading to job losses for an industry with about 250,000 employees, Koiso said.

Pork Imports
Japan imported 738,455 tons of pork worth 390 billion yen ($3.8 billion) last year, of which 281,139 tons, or 38 percent, was from the U.S., according to the agriculture ministry. Canada was the second-biggest supplier with 142,212 tons, followed by Denmark with 113,951 tons.

The Asian nation depends on imports for about half of its supply after the government removed a limit on the volume of purchases in 1971. In the same year, Japan introduced a so- called difference tariff system for pork, curbing an influx of cheap meat and supporting domestic prices for local farmers.

The country imposes 4.3 percent tariff on imports if the price from overseas is above 524 yen ($5.12) a kilogram. If the price of imported meat is under the level, the government collects duties to fill in the difference between the standard price and actual import price, blocking the entry of cheap products.

Eliminating the pork tariff under the TPP pact could benefit Chile and Mexico as South American nations can supply cheaper products than the U.S., said Akihiko Hirasawa, an economist at Norinchukin Research Institute Co. in Tokyo.

Hog futures for June settlement were little changed at $1.23225 a pound at 2:04 p.m. Tokyo time. The price has climbed 44 percent this year.

Japan agreed to cut the tariff on Australian pork to 2.2 percent from 4.3 percent, within a quota that limits volume to 6,700 tons in the first year and rises to 16,700 tons within five years, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

If completed, the TPP accord would be the biggest trade deal in U.S. history, linking a region with about $28 trillion in annual economic output, about 39 percent of the global total. Other members include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Japan Adds Pork Tariff Cut to Beef in Trade Pact With Australia

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:39:02 GMT

Japan, the world’s largest pork buyer, will lower its tariff on pig meat shipments from Australia in a bilateral trade agreement that also reduces import duties on beef.

The levy will drop to 2.2 percent from 4.3 percent, within a quota that limits volume to 6,700 metric tons in the first year and rises to 16,700 tons within five years, the Agriculture Ministry in Tokyo said in a statement today. Pork imports from Australia were about 700 tons in the 12 months to March 31, 2013.

Japan is relaxing restrictions on trade with Australia as the U.S. presses it to cut agricultural protection for the 12- nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. The Asian nation imported 738,455 tons of pork worth $3.8 billion in 2013, of which 38 percent came from the U.S., the world’s largest exporter.

“Setting up a low-tariff quota for Australian pork may be designed to encourage the U.S. to soften its negotiating stance in the TPP talks,” said Tetsuhide Mikamo, a director at Marubeni Research Institute in Tokyo. “The U.S. may lose some pork sales unless they reach agreement with Japan on tariffs given Australia gets an advantage under the bilateral accord.”

Japan agreed earlier this month that it would gradually lower tariffs on imports of frozen beef from Australia to 19.5 percent and cut duties on chilled beef to 23.5 percent. That compares with 38.5 percent now and is an advantage to Australian ranchers, who surpassed U.S. farmers as the biggest beef exporters to Japan after a mad cow disease outbreak shut out American meat in 2003.

The trade accord with Australia is expected to take effect next year.

Obama Visit
Economy Minister Akira Amari is visiting the U.S. this week to make progress in TPP negotiations before President Barack Obama visits Tokyo next week for talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on trade and security.

Japan should agree that it won’t seek exemptions for goods including agricultural produce as it seeks to reach agreement on the TPP, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said on April 3 at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing in Washington.

Japan, which depends on imports for about half of its meat supply, will also set up a low-tariff quota system for cattle tongues and offal from Australia, the Agriculture Ministry said today. The import levy on Australian cattle tongue will be cut to 7.6 percent from 12.8 percent, with the annual quota set at 22,300 tons in the initial year of the agreement, rising to 29,300 tons over 10 years.

Imports of the meat popular for barbecue grilling in Japan were 22,000 tons in the 12 months through March 2013, with 9,000 tons from Australia, according to the ministry.

Hog futures for June settlement in Chicago dropped 0.1 percent to $1.2365 a pound at 12:06 p.m. Tokyo time.

USMEF: U.S.-Japan Trade Extremely Important to U.S. Beef & Pork

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:24:02 GMT

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has confirmed that initial meetings aimed at reaching a trade agreement with Japan will be held April 15-16.

U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) President and CEO Dan Halstrom notes that it is extremely important for rapid progress to be made in these negotiations if U.S. beef and pork are to remain competitive in the largest value destination for U.S. red meat.

Halstrom points out that U.S. beef is already at a significant tariff rate disadvantage in Japan compared to its largest competitors - including Australia - that are part of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Other major beef suppliers participating in CPTPP are Canada, New Zealand and Mexico.

Japan imposes an import duty of 38.5% on U.S. beef, while the rate for CPTPP countries is 26.6%. The CPTPP rate will decline to 9% over the next 14 years.

On the pork side, the U.S. industry is disadvantaged not only by CPTPP (where the major pork suppliers are Canada, Mexico and Chile) but also by a new economic partnership agreement between Japan and the European Union. Halstrom notes that the most immediate impact of these two agreements is the reduction of Japan’s tariff rates for seasoned ground pork and processed pork products.

Seasoned ground pork from the U.S. faces a 20% duty in Japan compared to 13.3% for EU and CPTPP suppliers, and their rate will fall to zero by 2023. The CPTPP and EU duty rates for sausages entering Japan will also fall to zero by 2023 and for ham and bacon the rate will reach zero by 2028.

Trump's China Focus Imperils $14 Billion in Japan Farm Sales

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:22:00 GMT

(Bloomberg) -- Bill Flory sends about a quarter of the wheat he grows in Idaho to Japan, a country so key to the fourth-generation farmer that he’s visited there three times in five years.

Now he’s worried. While Canada, Australia and the European Union have all recently secured new or adjusted trade deals with Japan, the U.S. has not. That could give rivals an edge on prices with a customer that regularly imports about $14 billion a year in U.S. agriculture and farm-related products.

Flory, who supports President Donald Trump politically, said he believes the U.S. will eventually finalize a deal with Japan, but he’s concerned about the interim. Meanwhile, the Trump administration instead appears laser focused on trade talks with China, risking the 50 percent market share now controlled by American wheat supplies in Japan.

“How much market share will we lose until these trade issues are settled?” Flory asked. “My biggest fear is we lose market share not because of quality, but because of a lack of trade negotiations being settled.”

While Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have long signaled the intention to reach a trade deal, the administration has been engulfed in negotiating with China before a March 1 deadline, which could trigger a new increase in tariffs.

“Our competitive position is right now starting to be whittled away and we need to address that with all deliberate speed,” said Tom Halverson, chief executive officer of CoBank, a $125 billion lender to the agriculture industry. “We have built up our market share in Japan over decades. It would be profoundly unhelpful to the rural economy and to the agricultural economy to see those relationships and that market access to start to atrophy.”

At the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual outlook forum in Arlington, Virginia, on Thursday, Gregg Doud, the chief agricultural negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, said the U.S. needs to make a trade pact with Japan an “extraordinary” priority.

Here are a few of the most impacted markets:

Wheat

As of April 1, grain shipped by American farmers will face a disadvantage of $14 a metric ton to Australia and Canada, a gap that will grow to $70 a ton after nine years, said Vince Peterson, president of U.S. Wheat Associates. By then, he said, “most of the market will be long gone.”

“Japanese food processors are looking for ways to reduce their exposure to U.S. wheat right now,” Peterson said at a Dec. 10 hearing by the U.S. Trade Representative. “They will reformulate products to adapt to wheat from different origins.”

The price disadvantage means Japanese millers are expected to cut average annual imports of U.S. western white, dark northern spring and hard red winter wheat by more than half to 1.35 million tons or less, the National Feed and Grain Association said in its Nov. 26 feedback to USTR.

Beef and Pork

Japan is the top market for American beef, with the U.S. enjoying a 48 percent market share. While a previous agreement already gave Australian beef an advantage, that will widen even further. It’s a “huge roadblock,” said Don Close, a senior analyst of animal protein at Rabobank. Canada is also looking to gain market share.

American pork exporters will also see more competition, especially from the EU. The U.S. was the top supplier of pork to Japan in 2018. But with the new trade agreements implemented and the absence of a U.S. deal by April 1, American export losses would amount to more than $600 million by 2023 and $1.06 billion by 2028, the U.S. Meat Export Federation estimates.

“It is critically important that the U.S. get that long-term agreement with Japan,” Close said. “I think a lot of the heavy lifting with those negotiations has already been done, it’s just that we’re so occupied with China and all of these other fracases, that they haven’t had time to ‘okay let’s sit down and get this done’.”

Dairy

Japan is the fourth-biggest market for American dairy and the industry stands to lose $5.4 billion in the 21 years through 2038, the U.S. Dairy Export Council estimates. By 2027, almost half of American shipments to Japan will have been replaced without an agreement.

The cheese market would feel the “most significant overall impact,” according to the lobby group, which estimates the U.S.’s market share in Japan could grow to 24 percent by 2027 from 13 percent a decade earlier.

“Beef has been hurt, and pork has been hurt, wheat has been hurt,” said former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who now heads the Dairy Export Council. It’s the responsibility of the administration “not to forget about agriculture generally, and dairy specifically, because the losses can mount pretty quickly at a time when prices are low.”

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Japan Announces Beef and Pork Safeguard Trigger Levels

Thu, 19 Nov 2020 03:30:28 GMT

On May 31, Japan’s Ministry of Finance announced the safeguard (trigger levels for beef and pork for the fourth quarter of Japanese Fiscal Year (JFY) 2019 (January 2020-March 2020), according to a recent USDA-Foreign Agricultural Service Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report.

This announcement from Japan follows a March 31 report detailing trigger levels for the first three quarters of JFY 2019. The beef safeguard trigger is set at 117% of the previous year’s trade while the pork safeguard trigger level is 119% of the average of the three previous years of trade, the GAIN Report said.

“All three safeguards have a double trigger system based on imports from all trade partners and imports from countries with which Japan does not have an economic partnership agreement,” the GAIN Report said.

The trigger levels for beef and pork are calculated on a cumulative quarterly basis. In December 2018 and February 2019, Japan revised all three safeguard calculations following the entry into force of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Japan-EU EPA.

If any of these safeguards trigger, the tariff increases will apply only to countries that do not have a free trade agreement with Japan, which includes the U.S.

NPPC Urges Trade Resolution with Japan
The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) is lobbying hard to help get U.S. pork producers back on a level playing field in Japan.

“U.S. pork producers are losing market share in Japan to international competitors that have recently negotiated more favorable trade terms in our most valuable market,” David Herring, NPPC’s president and a pork producer from Lillington, N.C. said in a press release on April 1. “We are already seeing a decline in sales to Japan and will see market loss accelerate if we don’t quickly secure competitive access to Japan.”

Dermot Hayes, an economist at Iowa State University, says U.S. pork will see exports to Japan grow from $1.6 billion in 2018 to more than $2.2 billion over the next 15 years if the U.S. quickly gains access on par with international competitors. Hayes reports that U.S. pork shipments to Japan will drop to $349 million if a trade deal on these terms is not quickly reached with Japan.

“U.S. pork producers are suffering significant financial harm from punitive tariffs levied on U.S. pork exports by China and Mexico in retaliation for U.S. actions on steel and aluminum and China’s trade practices,” says Maria Zieba, NPPC director of international affairs. “But an even bigger trade problem looms large. Key global competitors have negotiated and implemented trade agreements with Japan and the U.S. already is losing market share in its most important export market.”

Trade in the First Month of JFY 2019
Japan’s Ministry of Finance also announced actual import data for April 2019, the first month of JFY 2019.

Chilled beef imports from all trade partners accounted for 25,860 metric tons (30% of Q1 trigger) and from non-EPA countries, 11,480 metric tons (28% of Q1 trigger). Frozen beef imports from all partners came in at 41,408 metric tons (39% of Q1 trigger) and from non-EPA partners, 15,518 metric tons (42% of Q1 trigger).

For the pork SG, imports from all partners was 99,230 metric tons (36% of Q1 trigger) and from non-EPA countries, it was 22,301 metric tons (28% of Q1 trigger). For the pork SSG, imports from all partners came in at 99,236 metric tons (10% of annual trigger) and from non-EPA countries, 22,301 metric tons (8% of annual trigger).

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:
Fast Trade Agreement with Japan Essential for U.S. Pork Producers

U.S. Farm Negotiator Wants to Move Quickly on Japan Trade Deal

Thu, 19 Nov 2020 03:18:21 GMT

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. needs to make moving toward a trade pact with Japan an “extraordinary” priority.

That’s according to Gregg Doud, the chief agricultural negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Speaking at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual outlook forum in Arlington, Virginia, Doud emphasized the importance of talks with Japan at time when rival commodity suppliers have already inked accords.

While Canada, Australia and the European Union have all recently secured new or adjusted trade deals with Japan, the U.S. has not. Farmers, agriculture lenders and industry analysts have all expressed concern that without a deal, the U.S. could lose its edge with a customer that regularly imports about $14 billion a year in American agriculture and farm-related products.

“I can’t emphasize enough how critical it is to engage with Japan as quickly as we can,” Doud said.

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

USMEF "Heartland Team" Goes to Japan

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 05:09:51 GMT

Great interest has circled regarding Japan’s increase activity purchasing U.S. red meat. In this U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) report, U.S. producers share observations from their visit to Japan on Sept. 3-8 to meet with buyers of U.S. pork and beef and get a firsthand look at how their support helps grow demand in the leading international market for U.S. red meat. The “USMEF Heartland Team” included Wanda Blair, a cattle producer from Vale, South Dakota, who serves on the USMEF executive committee. In her first visit to Japan, Blair was impressed with the trade seminar USMEF conducted for importers, distributors and other key industry contacts.

Jerry Maier (pronounced MY-ER), a corn and soybean grower from Eagle Grove, Iowa, and director for the Iowa Corn Growers Association was also a first-time visitor to Japan. He offers his observations from USMEF supermarket promotions in Tokyo.

Nebraska Corn Board member David Merrell, a corn and soybean producer from St. Edward, Nebraska, last visited Japan in 2007 and remarks on the strong growth in consumer interest in U.S. pork and beef.

Other members of the USMEF Heartland Team delegation were: Bill Lickley, Idaho Beef Council; Cale Buhr, Charles Knipe, and Leon Dorn, Nebraska Soybean Board; Jay Reiners, Nebraska Corn Growers Association; Chris Abbott, Nebraska Beef Council; Ryan Quarles, Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture; Dave Maples, Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association; Ray Allan Mackey, Kentucky Corn Promotion Council; Dennis McNinch and Greg Krissek, Kansas Corn Commission; Kenlon Johannes and Lance Rezac, Kansas Soybean Commission; Richard Wortham, Texas Beef Council; Eldon White, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association; Patrick O’Leary and Gene Stoel, Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council; Mike McCranie, South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council; Theresa Sisung, Corn Marketing Program of Michigan.

Japan Bacon Festival Doubles Down on Pork

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 05:08:44 GMT

The 2nd annual Japan Bacon Festival is back with double the bacon! Organizers of the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival in Iowa are returning to Japan to cohost the event. The “Bacon Wars: The Pork Loin Strikes Back” theme showcases the addition of pork loin on the menus, with donated products from Smithfield.

“Sharing our insane passion for pork with other cultures inspires us. We love seeing how their unique perspectives lead to both using and celebrating pork in ways we’ve never dreamed.” Says Brooks Reynolds, co-founder of the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival and Chairman of the Iowa Bacon Board.

The event will also double the space and move from one to two days. The event will be Sept. 29 and 30 in two adjacent parks outside Kofu Central Station.

Highlights:

Free bacon samples from Jones Dairy Farms and Berkwood Farms
Bacon and pork loin-inspired cuisine by over 20 local restaurants
Live entertainment
A Japan Bacon Queen Pageant
A bacon eating contest
A bacon themed bike ride
Chef awards for the best use of bacon and best use of pork loin
International pork fellowship

The inaugural Japan Bacon Festival took place on Nov. 3, 2017, attracting more than 10,000 bacon-loving participants and sparking nation-wide media coverage across Japan. The festival is a result of an ongoing collaboration between the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival and Junior Chamber International Kofu (JCIK) with the goal of celebrating the Iowa Hog Lift - a historic humanitarian effort that took place in 1959. Japan had been devastated by two huge typhoons, and Iowa’s response was to airlift 36 breeding hogs and ship 100,000 bu. of corn to help with the recovery effort. The initiative is credited with setting the stage for Iowa and Yamanashi becoming Sister States by formal agreement, opening markets in Japan for U.S. goods and services, and initiating agricultural cooperator programs between the U.S. and Japan.

Japan Finds African Swine Fever In Sausage From China

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 05:08:04 GMT

Regular meat inspections detected African swine fever in vacuum-packed pork sausage being brought into Japan by a person coming from Beijing, according to Reuters this week.

Bringing pork meat and products from China into Japan is prohibited, but this is the third case of the disease being found in pork products. In South Korea, two instances of livestock products from China also carried the virus.

It was unlikely the pork was infectious, as it was vacuum packed and heat treated, ministry officials say, but more testing is being done in Tokyo.

Japan has since tightened quarantine operations at airports and seaports, especially from those traveling from areas infected with the disease.

For a current update on China’s battle with African Swine Fever, visit:

African Swine Fever Outbreaks Cause Transport Bans In Guangdong

3 Global Disease Pressures Impacting Livestock Producers

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 05:07:48 GMT

Tariffs and disease—the two words that strike fear into every livestock farmer and stakeholder. Even as trade talks continue, the U.S. is on high alert to make sure several foreign animal disease (FAD) threats stay outside U.S. borders.

African swine fever spreads in Europe and China

On Sept. 9, a case of African swine fever (ASF) was found by Belgian authorities, after three adult wild boars were found dead near the southern village of Étalle, in the Belgian province of Luxembourg. In total, eight infected wild pigs have been found. No cases of disease had been found on commercial pig farms, officials said.

As of press time, China has reported nearly 20 cases of African swine fever (ASF) since July, affecting eight provinces. China has banned transportation of live hog and pig products in 16 regions to help contain the disease spread. The affected areas include the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Jilin, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong, Hubei and Shaanxi as well as the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the city of Shanghai.

This map shows the locations of the first 11 cases of African Swine Fever, as of Sept. 11, 2018. Since then, additional cases have emerged. China’s swine-dense population is located in the central part of the country.

China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs says the country’s sow herd, as of August 2018, is 4.8% smaller than a year ago. The sow herd declined just over 1% from the month prior.

The largest portion of the Chinese pig herd rests in the central part of the country. The ban has interrupted supply channels at every level, report many farmers. The Liaoning providence in the northeast exports nearly 20% of its pigs each year to the southern part of the country, under normal conditions. While hog supplies are accumulating in the north with no market access, hog prices in the southern providences have soared.

Pork prices in the Zhejiang province have increased 23% since the outbreak, due to the transportation ban. Complicating pork price disruptions even further is China’s trade war with the U.S. Pork makes up about two-thirds of China’s meat consumption.

Other cases of the disease have been found in Romania this year.

ASF is a highly contagious hemorrhagic disease that produces a wide range of clinical signs and lesions. There is no vaccine or treatment for the disease, but does not affect human health.

Classical Swine Fever resurfaces in Japan after 26 years

Also known as hog cholera, Classical Swine fever , was identified Sept. 9th on a farm located at Gifu Prefecture, in the central area of Japan, killing 80 pigs. The last CSF outbreak in Japan was in 1992. In 2007, the use of vaccination was banned and disease eradication was declared.

While the Gifu Prefecture is not a major area of swine production, it’s only 500 miles from the south region, the highest pig-dense area.

Unrelated to ASF cases in China, CSF does present similar clinical symptoms with mortality rates of nearly 100%. Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) says the remaining 610 pigs on the farm were culled to contain the outbreak and no clear origin of the infection has been found. Additional testing continues. Commercial vaccines are available for the control of CSF.

Exports have been suspended until Japan’s veterinary services can determine if control measures are sufficient.

Japan is also still recovering from the 2013-2016 porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) epidemenic , reports SHIC. On July 9, 2018, USDA-APHIS had published the official notice of the OIE recognition of Japan as free-CSF. Currently, Japan is one of the Top 10 pork-producing countries in the world.

Foot and mouth disease continues to torment China, South Korean farmers

ASF isn’t the only disease China’s Ministry of Agriculture is struggling to contain. An outbreak of foot and mouth disease in a herd of cattle was found Sept. 6, and later confirmed diagnosis of the O-type strain of the disease Sept. 14.

The cattle had been transported to the Xinjiang region from Gansu province. Local authorities in Xinjiang culled 47 cattle following the outbreak. The outbreak is now under control, the Chinese ministry said.

However, this is the eighth case of the O-type strain found in livestock in China this year. In August, China culled 173 pigs due to FMD.

South Korea has also seen reports of the disease this year. In both countries, there is extensive vaccination for the disease, but the efficacy of the vaccine and the compliance to the vaccination regime can vary widely.

Leaders advise U.S. farmers to review farm biosecurity plans

All of these threats underline the need for U.S. producers and feed suppliers to review and increase biosecurity protocols to keep disease threats from affecting the U.S. herd.

Dave Pyburn, DVM, vice president of science and technology for the Pork Checkoff, advises producers to review the Foreign Animal Disease Checklist at pork.org/FAD . “By going through the items on this list, you can improve your biosecurity plan and prepare to register for the voluntary Secure Pork Supply plan, which will help participants maintain business continuity in the event of a FAD,” he says.

According to Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes, losses from ASF could total as much as $8 billion for the pork industry in year one alone. That doesn’t include related losses of $4 billion and $1.5 billion for the affected input commodities of corn and soybeans, respectively.

“Keeping trade-limiting foreign animal diseases, such as ASF, out of the U.S. is critical to pork producers,” said Steve Rommereim, National Pork Board president and a producer from Alcester, South Dakota. “We all need to improve the overall level of FAD preparedness. We hope for the best, but we must prepare for the worst.”

Producers hope a FAD vaccine bank, included the current draft of the next farm bill, will help provide additional resources. Funding of the vaccine bank, however is unclear .

For example, NPPC anticipates the U.S. will need an inventory of 10 million doses of FMD vaccine, the estimated need for the first two weeks of a potential outbreak. The vaccine bank would also need to store FMD antigen against all 23 of the most common types of the disease. Read more by clicking the image below:

Hog Cholera Crisis Worsens in Japan

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 05:07:44 GMT

Japan’s outbreak of Classical Swine Fever, commonly known as hog cholera, continues to spread with a sixth case identified Dec. 25, since the country first reported the disease in September .

The sixth case was discovered near Seki, Gifu, Japan, in the central part of the country. More than 7,500 pigs have been culled to contain the virus, which has already been detected in wild boars in both Gifu and neighboring Aichi prefectures.

The country has set up a response unit and dispatched about 1,600 Ground Self-Defense Force Troops to the farm to bury the culled pigs. Hog cholera does not affect humans, even if an infected animal is consumed.

A pig showing signs of infection was found in a test prior to shipment Dec. 23, farm officials said. Another tested positive on . Three farms with a total of 1,800 pigs located within about 6 miles were banned from shipping their hogs. Meat processing facilities in the city also halted operations.

Wild boars are suspected to be the source of infection, and university sources are calling for additional steps to control wild pigs in the area. Local farmers are asking for vaccination resources, reports the Associated Press .

It’s been 26 years since Japan reported its last hog cholera case in 1992, and declared the virus eradicated in 2007.

Hog Cholera Reported in Japan

3 Global Disease Pressures Impacting Livestock Producers

15,000 Pigs to Be Culled in Japan For Swine Fever

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 05:07:11 GMT

Japan’s outbreak of classical swine fever (CSF), or hog cholera, has spread to five prefectures, including Osaka, since the country reported the disease Sept. 9. Until then, the country had not reported a case of CSF for 26 years.

More than 15,000 pigs will be culled and buried as part of measures to prevent further contagion, the government said Wednesday.

In December, the first farm in the Gifu prefecture, reported the disease and culled 610 pigs at the farm. In January, the sixth case was reported, and the country sent additional 1,600 ground self-defense force troops to the farm to bury the pigs .

Pigs shipped from the farm in Aichi to pig farms in Osaka and three other prefectures were also found infected with CSF.

“In order to prevent the disease from spreading further, the government will do its utmost by having the agriculture ministry and relevant local authorities cooperate for speedy and thorough implementation of quarantine measures,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in a news conference, Reuters reports .

Wild boars are suspected to be the source of hog cholera infections, but local farmers are asking for widespread vaccinations.

This is a different strain from the deadly African swine fever sweeping through China. Swine fever is often deadly for pigs and wild boars, but is not infectious for humans.

Jan. 3, 2019: Hog Cholera Crisis Worsens in Japan

Sept. 10, 2018: Hog Cholera Reported in Japan

U.S. Pork Producers Hope For Resolution in Japan Trade Talks

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 05:07:02 GMT

Trade talks between U.S. Trade Representative Bob Lighthizer and Japan’s economy minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, are set for Monday and Tuesday in Washington, with the U.S. hoping to strike a “quick” deal on agriculture, reports Pro Farmer’s Jim Wiesemeyer.

Japan’s Finance Minister Taro Aso suggested the U.S. is in no hurry to reach a trade deal with the nation.

“They’re too busy with China. I don’t think they can spare enough people to talk to us,” Aso told reporters Friday in Washington during the spring International Monetary Fund meetings. “There have been no official requests made directly to us on what the U.S. would like to achieve.”

The discussions will follow in the spirit of the joint statement released last September when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Donald Trump agreed to begin trade talks, according to Japanese officials.

That means Japan cannot make concessions on agricultural market access beyond what it agreed to in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a free-trade agreement between 11 nations in the Asia-Pacific region that followed after Trump abandoned an earlier pact his third day in office, Wiesemeyer says.

“Tokyo is hoping to avoid tariffs on its cars and Trump has previously shown he will use the threat of such tariffs as part of his trade policy strategy,” Wiesemeyer says.

NPPC Urges Trade Resolution with Japan
The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) urged the Trump administration to expeditiously complete and deliver for ratification to Congress a trade deal that puts U.S. pork producers back on a level playing field in Japan.

“U.S. pork producers are losing market share in Japan to international competitors that have recently negotiated more favorable trade terms in our most valuable market,” David Herring, NPPC’s president and a pork producer from Lillington, N.C. said in a press release on April 1. “We are already seeing a decline in sales to Japan and will see market loss accelerate if we don’t quickly secure competitive access to Japan.”

Dermot Hayes, an economist at Iowa State University, says U.S. pork will see exports to Japan grow from $1.6 billion in 2018 to more than $2.2 billion over the next 15 years if the U.S. quickly gains access on par with international competitors. Hayes reports that U.S. pork shipments to Japan will drop to $349 million if a trade deal on these terms is not quickly reached with Japan.

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“U.S. pork producers are losing market share in Japan to international competitors that have recently negotiated more favorable trade terms in our most valuable market,” said David Herring, NPPC president. “We need to quickly secure competitive access to Japan.”

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