Everybody wants Japan to hurry up and reopen its markets to U.S. beef, because the mad cow-related lockout is costing the U.S. beef industry $1 billion a year. And the leadership on this issue by Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and other Kansans in Congress has been impressive. But are billions of dollars in annual tariffs on Japanese products the means to the desired end? If the tariffs legislation in Congress, authored by Roberts and Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., is mostly meant as a threat to push Japan to act by the end of the year, OK. And if President Bush can get Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to relent during his Nov. 15-16 trip to Japan, great. But tariffs on Japanese goods would end up punishing Americans, too, by driving up prices and hurting economic growth.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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14 Comments
I lived in Japan for two years. The average size of a farm in Japan is four acres. No way can they compete with us, yet they’ve cleverly blocked our agricultural goods out of their market.
It’s way past high time for the US to stop letting foreign countries eat our lunch economically with their unfair trade and tariffs.
This is the war the pResident SHOULD be fighting . . .
Where else would we get the better electronics from? We don’t make them here anymore.
Cattle prices, like oil prices, are driven by market forces. Those who have the commodity (cattle and/or oil) are not hurting. Consumers at the pumps, the chop houses, and the stores are footing the bill. Not the Beef industry. Sorry, Rhonda. You’ve been hoodwinked again.
Tracy: “Where else would we get the better electronics from?”Answer: China.
It is strange. Without Japan we should have a surplus of beef. But the price goes up? Something rotten in the meat business.
What do you suppose the price of a steak in Japan is? If they even eat beef.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Japan, but I remember it cost an arm and a leg to buy a steak in a restaruant. Worse yet, it tasted fishy.
I remember a story in the Winfield Courier last year about the meat packing plant in Cowley county. The plant was more than willing to meet the Japanese standards yet the US government wouldn’t let them.
Must be more of that “free market” strategy from the Republicans.
So, Clinton’s NAFTA isn’t a free market strategy. That’s not a Republican/Democrat issue, Pman. Follow the money. PAC money, that is. Small little company like Creekstone solves the problem, but the giants have a plan. (Keep profits high)
There wouldn’t be a problem if world beef producers established a convention banning the use of brain and spinal cord tissue in animal feed.
It’s not a Democrat or Republican issue. The Republicans are in control today. The problem is happening now. When the federal government impedes the free market today it’s the Republicans doing it.
I wonder how the money we lose on beef exports compares to the cost of testing every head of cattle that goes to slaughter? If we could garrantee our meat was free from mad cow disease, the Japanese wouldn’t ban it. Might be time for 100% testing.
Rhonda, your reasoning is why we have such a large trade deficit.
When a good cut of meat is $5lb. you would think it affordable for 100% inspection.
Japanese products? You mean we still get Japanese products? All I’ve seen the last few years are stamped, “Made in China.”