Eleven months after initiating negotiations, President Trump notified Congress on Monday that he intends to sign a trade agreement with Japan in the coming weeks. The agreement is expected to put U.S. farmers on equal footing in trade with Japan in competition with the “TPP-11” trade bloc and the EU.
Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan announced an agreement in principle last month on a trade deal at the G-7 summit. They said they aimed to sign it on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting next week.
“I am pleased to report that my Administration has reached an initial trade agreement regarding tariff barriers (the “agreement”) with Japan and I intend to enter into the agreement in the coming weeks,” said Trump in a message to Congress. The agreement would reduce tariffs, he said. “In addition, I also will be entering into an executive agreement with Japan regarding digital trade.”
U.S. officials have said Japan also will buy around 2.5 million tonnes of American-grown corn, helping to relieve a large U.S. stockpile. Japan is the No. 1 market for U.S. beef exports and is the top market, in dollar value, for U.S. pork; Mexico is tops in tonnage.