Japan’s parliament has approved a trade deal that was agreed upon by President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in September earlier this year. The deal, which cuts tariffs between the two countries, takes effect at the beginning of next year. The deal cleared Japan’s upper house on Wednesday after clearing the more powerful lower house earlier.
Under the agreement, frozen U.S. poultry will be among the agricultural products that will benefit from staged tariff elimination.
NCC lauded the deal’s announcement in September. “Under the U.S.- Japan Trade Agreement, frozen chicken products will receive favorable tariff reductions enabling our products to compete more effectively with those countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” said National Chicken Council President Mike Brown. “While final details regarding agriculture still need to be worked out, today’s signing is welcome news and we would like to thank President Trump, Secretary Perdue and Secretary Lighthizer for their work negotiating trade deals that stand to benefit U.S. chicken.”
The trade deal did not require U.S. congressional approval, meaning domestic procedures in both countries have effectively wrapped up. President Trump has pushed the deal as a way to shrink the trade deficit with Japan.
“The Japan deal is a partial deal. The rest will come next year,” President Trump said Wednesday in London, where a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has taken place. President Trump is seeking a full-fledged free trade agreement that covers areas including services and investments and will likely step up pressure on Tokyo as the 2020 U.S. presidential election nears.
After the deal enters into force, the countries have agreed to conclude preparatory consultations within four months to set the scope for further trade talks. Discussions between lead negotiators, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will then start again in earnest.
