JAPAN MINISTRY SAYS OPEN FARM TRADE WOULD HIT U.S.
Japan's Agriculture Ministry, angered by
U.S. Demands that Japan open its farm products market, will
tell U.S. Officials at talks later this month that
liberalisation would harm existing U.S. Farm exports to Japan,
a senior ministry official said.
    "Imports from the U.S. Would drop due to active sales drives
by other suppliers," the official, who declined to be named,
said. "Japan is the largest customer for U.S. Farm products and
it is not reasonable for the U.S. To demand Japan liberalise
its farm import market," he said.
    Agriculture Minister Mutsuki Kato has said if the U.S.
Insists Japan open its protected rice market it will also open
its wheat market, where volume and origin are regulated to
protect local farmers.
    Australia and Canada could then increase their wheat
exports as they are more competitive than the U.S., He said.
End-users would also buy other origins, grain traders said.
    U.S. Agriculture Secretary Richard Lyng, who is due to
visit Japan for talks between April 16-27, has said he will ask
Japan to offer a share of its rice market to U.S. Suppliers and
remove quotas on U.S. Beef and citrus imports.
    Other countries are already cutting into the U.S. Market
share here. Australia, the largest beef supplier to Japan, has
been trying to boost exports prior to the expiry of a four-year
beef accord next March 31.
    Imports of U.S. Corn have fallen due to increased sales
from China and South America, while Japanese soybean imports
from Brazil are expected to rise sharply this year, although
the U.S. Will remain the largest supplier.
    U.S. Feedgrain sales will also drop if Japan opens up its
beef imports, since Japan depends almost entirely on feedgrain
imports, mainly from the U.S., Japanese officials said.
    An indication of the U.S. Position came last December when
Under Secretary of Agriculture Daniel Amstutz said Japan has
the potential to provide one of the largest boosts to U.S.
Agricultural exports, with the beef market alone representing
some one billion dlrs in new business.
    The U.S. Has also asked the General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade to investigate the legality of Japanese import
controls on 12 other farm products, including fruit juices,
purees and pulp, tomato juice, ketchup and sauce, peanuts,
prepared beef products and miscellaneous beans.
    To help calm heated trade relations with the U.S., Japan's
top business group Keidanren has urged the government to remove
residual import restrictions on agricultural products.
    But Agriculture Minister Kato has ruled out any emotional
reaction, and the senior ministry official said the farm issue
should not become a scapegoat for trade pressure in the
industrial sector.
    "Japan is the largest buyer of U.S. Farm products, and these
issues should not be discussed on the same table," the official
said.
 REUTER
