Japan Joins the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Adding Japan to the other 11 nations in the TTP free trade agreement talks will now cover nearly 4 percent of the world’s economic output and one-third of all world trade. This addition may lead to good things for U.S. agriculture and the nation’s overall economy.

American Farm Bureau trade specialist Dave Salmonsen discusses the possibilities

Salmonsen: “Japan’s entry into the negations next month is huge because you’ve got a big economic player in the region as part of the discussion. Certainly the Trans-Pacific Partnership negations and the countries that have becoming involved especially over the last year with Canada and Mexico joining and Japan almost in shows the importance and the growth of that region as a place for U.S. agriculture almost 50 percent of all our ag exports go into the Asia-Pacific region.”

There is a lot of focus on what Japan offers as it currently imports almost $14 billion of U.S. agricultural goods, despite rigid restrictions on imports as Salmonsen explains.

Salmonsen: “There is certainly opportunity for growth for U.S. ag exports in a variety of areas. They have an agricultural system that has protected their farmers through high tariffs and other barriers. There are lot of opportunity for fruits and vegetable producers. They have 125 million people in a development country. They spend a lot of money on food and they want a quality product.”