US beef exports to Japan jump 23% in Jan.-June

August 9, 2017

TOKYO- US beef exports to Japan jumped 23 pct from a year earlier to 150,812 tons in January-June, before the Asian nation activated a safeguard measure to cope with a surge in imports of the US produce on Aug. 1, US Meat Export Federation data have shown.

Japan was the largest importer of US beef in the first half of 2017, followed by Mexico, with 114,923 tons, South Korea, with 83,357 tons, and Canada, with 58,248 tons.

Shipments of frozen meat to Japan, which account for nearly half of the overall US beef exports to the country, surged 40 pct.

But frozen beef exports could slow in the second half, due to the import safeguard. Under the step, which will be in place until the end of March 2018, the Japanese tariff on frozen beef from the United States was raised to 50 pct from 38.5 pct.

In value terms, US beef exports to Japan in January-June expanded 28 pct to 905.75 million dollars, also holding the largest share. Jiji Press