Dairy Group Demands Removal of Japanese Import Program in TPP Talks
The U.S. must address Japanese import restrictions for dairy products in Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, alongside efforts to ensure complete tariff elimination in a final pact, said International Dairy Foods Association President Connie Tipton in a recent plea to U.S. Trade…
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Representative Michael Froman and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The group's complaint is that the Japanese Agriculture and Livestock Industries Corporation (ALIC) buys imported dairy products and sells them back to the importing companies at different rates “to account for price gaps between imported and manufactured dairy products,” says the ALIC (here). The program also administers the Japanese agricultural tariff quota. “ALIC is in total control of Japan’s dairy imports,” said Tipton. “The financial benefits of the system flow entirely to the government, after which those financial ‘gains’ are shared with Japanese dairy producers. It would be difficult to imagine an import management system that is more trade distortive than this one.” Tipton said the program could be the “Achilles heel” in TPP negotiations. Other trade groups have asked that Japanese trade programs be taken up in TPP negotiations. The National Pork Producer’s Council, for example, recently called for the removal of a Japanese trade program, the Japanese Gate System, as part of TPP talks (see 14081418).