Japan's imports of U.S. frozen beef drop by a quarter after tariff hike

Too bad. This could have been avoided if US had not killed TPP.

This could have been avoided if US had not killed TPP.

Mere speculation, and probably not. In the leadup to the US pullout, Abe and other Japanese leaders made numerous assurances to Japanese farmers and other domestic industries that they would be given generous govt support should their business be at risk of "a flood of imports" after TPP went into effect.

How can US Imported beef be cheaper ? Refrigeration costs, shipping costs, must surely add a fair bit - what are Japanese Beef farmers doing wrong ? Isn't someone asking the question why ?

@mmwkdw Take a trip into the countryside and watch the scale and pace of farming in Japan. Farms are tiny and inefficient compared to huge Western Industrial sized farms.

They are tiny and slow but still can survive because of the many tariffs, which for the case of foreign rice imports is a whopping 787%. Good riddance.

what are Japanese Beef farmers doing wrong ?

Japanese beef is better quality than American beef.

Export Kobe beef to USA. USA people eat more beef than Japanese people.

Australia produce tasty beef, too. Anyway, Japanese beef eating custom began Meiji era while American had cowboys culture for many years.

TPP plan did not work because USA wanted Japan to import long grain rice cultivated in USA. Then sushi boom occurred. Northern California short grain rice farmers were not interested in exporting their crops to Japan. Sushi is still popular in USA.

I would not compare Japanese beef to American beef. Each countries raise cows in different type ranches.

USA imports crabs,, different kind of shrimps and also sunshine dried shrimps from Japan. They are still inexpensive so no tariff yet.

Japanese beef is better quality than American beef.

If you like fat.

If you like fat.

I do.

Japanese beef is the best in the world.

How can US Imported beef be cheaper ? Refrigeration costs, shipping costs, must surely add a fair bit - what are Japanese Beef farmers doing wrong ? Isn't someone asking the question why ?

Japanese beef farmers aren't necessarily doing anything wrong. Cheaper doesn't equate to better. On the contrast, it's a race to the bottom. One of the things I've always loved about Japan is that the Japanese people are willing to pay more for better quality, which in turn has led to an economy in which those who want to are able to buy better quality items. Japanese beef costs more because it's better beef than American. They could do it cheaper and make it cheaper, but that's not the game they are playing.

Way too fatty for my liking, also prefer my Tuna/Fish sans it.

Fat on pork I do like though,crunchy if done right.

Addition:

I do like fat when it comes in form of soft Biltong.