US Beef Team Visits Japan

TOKYO (DTN) -- Although some members of a U.S. Meat Export Federation-sponsored beef team visiting Japan May 8-10 hesitated to talk about politics or policy, the country's beef import tariffs were obviously quite on their minds.

Under the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Japan's tariffs on imported beef would go down from 38.5% to 9%. But with the Trump administration, the U.S. has opted out of the multinational trade pact. President Donald Trump has said he favors bilateral deals.

"We're hoping there would be some kind of agreement to break down the barriers," said Greg Hanes, USMEF assistant vice president for international marketing.

Hanes came to Japan with nine U.S. beef industry players, representing the whole U.S. beef production phase. The team members met with some of the biggest importers, like Nippon Ham and Itoham, and some of the big retail buyers such as Daiei and Komogi Iida. They participated in a seminar for trade buyers the first day, and a barbecue for about 50 to 60 people involved in consumer-blogger-social media the second day.

Following a visit to the Tokyo Meat Market on the morning of the last day, the team flew to South Korea for the rest of the week.

The Japan trip allowed the team members to study the market here and interact with customers, educating them about U.S. beef production. They also could learn about the needs of the market here, Hanes said.

Such a visit puts a face on the producer, Crockett, Texas, Santa Rosa Ranch co-owner and Texas Beef Council board member Kelley Sullivan said. "It's important for them, and it's important for us to see the faces of the consumers too," Sullivan said.

The team saw cuts here that people would not normally want to use in the U.S., like shoulder clod, flat round, inside round and tongue. Shipping such product to Japan "gives us a chance to add more dollars to the producers at home," Ninneka, Oklahoma, dairy farmer and Cattlemen's Beef Board (CBB) chairman Brett Morris said.

Texas Cattle Feeders Association Chairman Jim Lovell, who is in charge of cattle procurement and marketing for Bartlett Cattle in Canyon, Texas, talked to wholesalers and retailers on the trip. He said it appears Japanese people like U.S. beef for its taste and its tenderness.

"The thing about the Japanese is, they recognize the value of things, and are willing to pay for it," Lovell said.

U.S. beef fills an important slot in Japan's beef market and a significant place in the Japanese diet, said CBB director Richard Winter. Winter, from Happy, Texas, is feeders manager for Quien Sabe. "Its price point is lower than the domestic product that is available," Winter said.

Jackie Means co-owns, with her husband Jon, Means Ranch in Valentine, Texas, and is also a CBB director. Jon also came along, as past president of the Texas and Southwest Cattle Raisers Association. Jackie said the Japanese want less fish and more meat. "The (Japanese) government is supporting that," she said.

Greeley, Colorado-based meat producer JBS USA animal health auditor and Colorado Beef Council director Lily Edwards-Callaway said she didn't realize that as U.S. beef is corn-fed, it has the same taste profile as Japanese beef. The Japanese don't either, Hanes said. "They don't really know about this," he said.

The demand for beef in Japan is bigger than Arvada, Colorado, Ralston Valley Beef owner and Colorado Beef Council Chairman Tood Inglee ever thought. Inglee never pictured that people wanted beef as much as they do here. "The variety of cuts that people consume here really surprised me," he said.

"I am confident that when we can get (additional product) here more affordably, it can be consumed," Inglee said.

(ES/CZ)