Signed U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement Confirms Equal Footing for U.S. Wheat

The U.S. and Japan signed a tariff agreement on October 7 in Washington DC that will prove beneficial to the U.S.’s wheat growers, specifically those in the Pacific Northwest and Central Plains.

Under the terms of the agreement, U.S. wheat will be awarded the same preferential treatment as wheat sourced from Canada or Australia under the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). In addition, Japan has agreed to initiate country-specific quotas for U.S. wheat and wheat product imports.

U.S. wheat accounts for half of Japan’s total wheat imports, valued at more than $600 million, and more than 10 percent of all wheat exported by the U.S. every year.

Once the CPTPP went into effect in December 2018, market factors were affected in such a way as to place U.S. wheat at a disadvantage, and created conditions that would eventually lead to Japanese buyers having no choice but to opt for wheat from CPTPP countries.

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