Lyng Sets Tough U.S. Stance With Japan on Beef

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Richard Lyng warned Japan that the failure to remove a longstanding import quota on Japanese beef might spark a protectionist response in the United States.

“Given the protectionist mood in the Congress and the country, if I were a leader in Japan I would certainly be very concerned…and the failure to remove it (the beef quota) might be very serious,” Lyng told a group of U.S cattlemen.

Lyng said he and Trade Representative Clayton Yeutter, during a visit to Japan later this month, will demand “total elimination” of the beef import quota by April 1988.

The current dispute with Japan over semiconductor may strengthen the U.S. stance in farm trade negotiations, Lyng said, because Japan does not want a trade war with the U.S.

Lyng dismissed recent statements in Tokyo that Japan might retaliate against U.S. products as a result of the semiconductor dispute.

“They (Japan) aren’t going to pick a fight with us,” Lyng said, adding that with its huge bilateral trade surplus Japan has more to lose in a trade war than the United States.

Lyng told the U.S. cattlemen that the quota on Japanese beef imports does not allow consumers there an adequate choice in food purchases.

He said in addition to beef, the U.S. will press for eliminiation of import barriers on Japan’s citrus and rice as well.

Lyng noted that Japan is the largest buyer of U.S. farm products, principally grains and soybeans.