Japan to hike tariffs on frozen beef imports from U.S., other nations (updated)
28/07/2017 08:39
* Tariffs to rise to 50 pct from 38.5 pct now
* U.S. access to top Asia market for U.S. beef to shrink
* Hike to hurt U.S. beef producers, Japan restaurants -trade
body
* Nations with EPAs, such as Australia, excluded from
increase
(Adds comment from Japan restaurant, supermarket chains)
TOKYO/SINGAPORE, July 28 (Reuters) - Japan will raise
tariffs from August on imports of frozen beef from the United
States and other countries, in a move to protect domestic
producers, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said on Friday.
Between Aug. 1 and the end of March next year, tariffs will
jump to 50 percent from 38.5 percent now, as a "safeguard"
mechanism is triggered to protect domestic farmers, the ministry
said in a statement.
It will be the first time the tariff mechanism has been
tripped for beef imports since August 2003, when it was
triggered for chilled beef, the farm ministry said.
The hike threatens a significant sector of United States'
access to the biggest Asian market for U.S. beef, just as
President Donald Trump seeks to expand American exports to
Japan.
Last year, U.S. frozen beef exports to Japan were worth more
than $400 million.
"The safeguard will not only have negative implications for
U.S. beef producers, but will also have a significant impact on
the Japanese food service industry," said Philip Seng, president
and chief executive of the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF),
in a statement on its website.
The hike will be especially hard on gyudon beef bowl
restaurants, which use U.S. frozen beef cuts as a primary
ingredient, he said.
An increase is automatic if quarterly imports of specific
beef products - both from all nations and from those lacking
economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with Japan - rise more
than 17 percent from a year earlier.
In April-June, Japan's first fiscal quarter, frozen beef
imports from all nations, at 89,253 tonnes, were up 17.1 percent
on the year, while imports from non-EPA nations reached 37,823
tonnes, an increase of nearly a quarter, government data showed.
Nations that have EPAs with Japan, such as Australia, Mexico
and Chile, escape the tariff hike.
Japan has been contacting affected nations, such as the
United States, to explain the increase, Finance Minister Taro
Aso told reporters, Kyodo news agency said.
Imports of chilled beef face no increase as their volumes
did not exceed the trigger level.
Japan's beef bowl restaurants were "finally enjoying robust
growth due to greater availability of U.S. beef," Seng said,
following tremendous setbacks experienced during previous curbs
of U.S. beef imports.
U.S. sales of frozen beef cuts to Japan last year were worth
$418 million, or around 18 percent of the U.S. total, U.S.
Census Bureau data shows.
For the period January-May this year, total U.S. beef
exports to Japan were valued at $731 million, up 32 percent on
the corresponding 2016 period, the same data showed.
By volume, total U.S. beef sales to Japan for January-May
were 123,290 tonnes, up from 96,394 tonnes a year ago. Overall
U.S beef exports for the first five months were 497,323 tonnes.
U.S. beef makes up the vast majority of beef procurement at
fast-food chain Yoshinoya 9861.T , which buys about 11,000
tonnes of it annually, said a company spokesman.
But the company is not considering raising prices at the
moment, as a lacklustre economy makes it hard to pass on higher
costs to customers, he added.
"We don't yet have a clear idea about the impact on
earnings," he said. "But considering conditions around
consumption, we feel it will be difficult to raise prices."
An official of a supermarket chain with more than 100 stores
nationwide, who declined to be identified, ruled out a price
hike for now, saying stocks were sufficient for the foreseeable
future, though the proportion of U.S. beef it sold was limited.
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori and Ritsuko Shimizu in TOKYO and
Gavin Maguire in SINGAPORE; Editing by Tom Hogue and Clarence
Fernandez)
((osamu.tsukimori@thomsonreuters.com, +813 6441 1857, Reuters
Messaging: osamu.tsukimori.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net;))
Keywords: JAPAN BEEF/