Japanese Beef Tariffs and Mexico Grain Shopping

Japanese Beef Tariffs and Mexico Grain Shopping

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
From the Ag Information Network, I'm Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.

**Japanese purchases of U.S. beef are about to be subject to a 50% tariff after imports in the three-month period ending June 30 triggered a "safeguard" mechanism.

A Japanese spokesman says imports of frozen beef in its fiscal first quarter exceeded the amount required to trigger the safeguard, as agreed to in the 1994 WTO agreement.

The U.S. Meat Export Federation said the limit was exceeded by just 113 metric tons.

**The EPA was wrong in its interpretation of "inadequate domestic supply" when decreasing required renewable fuel blending. That was the ruling by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In earlier arguments, lawyers for renewable fuel groups, collectively referred to as Americans for Clean Energy disputed EPA's move under the governance of the Renewable Fuel Standard.

In the decision, Judge Brett Kavanaugh wrote, "the 'inadequate domestic supply' provision authorizes EPA to consider SUPPLY-SIDE factors affecting the volume of renewable fuel, but "does not allow EPA to consider the volume of renewable fuel available to consumers or the DEMAND-SIDE constraints affecting consumption."

**Mexico may talk about getting grains from countries other than the U.S., but Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue doesn't think they're serious.

Perdue told reporters last week Mexico realizes the benefits of having a "corner store" like the U.S. to its immediate north.

Perdue was in Mexico for two days of discussions ahead of negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement set to begin August 16th.

Mexico is our third-largest export market for agricultural

goods.

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