US Beef Exports to Japan

Nov 28, 2022

BY CHRIS CLAYTON

The Upper House of Japan's Diet, the country's national legislature, has approved a new beef tariff agreement with the U.S. that is expected to boost U.S. beef exports to the country.

The U.S. Trade Representative's Office announced the Diet's approval, called a "beef safeguard mechanism," under the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement.

Once in effect, the new agreement will provide three guidelines, or a "three-trigger safeguard" that will allow U.S. beef exporters to meet Japan's growing demand for beef, the USTR stated, and will reduce the likelihood of Japan imposing higher tariffs on U.S. beef in the future. The agreement was originally negotiated last June. USTR stated the two countries are working to finalize procedures for the agreement to enter into force.

Japan imported $2.38 billion in U.S. beef and beef variety meats in 2021. Through September, Japan has imported $1.85 billion in U.S. beef and beef variety meats, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

Beef and beef variety meat exports to Japan in 2021 came in at 320,737 metric tons. Through September, the U.S. had exported 236,718 metric tons to Japan.

While South Korea has now become a top export market for U.S. beef, Japan remains the top market for volumes and dollar amount when beef and beef variety meat products are totaled.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association thanked the U.S. Trade Representative's Office for working with the Japanese government on the tariff safeguard. "This approval will ensure greater certainty for our supply chain while also allowing American producers to continue exporting high-quality beef to meet Japanese consumer demand," NCBA's Hunter Ihrman, director of policy communications, stated in an email Wednesday.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.