Beef exports

St. Joseph (Mo.) News-Press

Missouri Republican Jim Talent joined a growing number of farm-state senators ready to put Japan's feet to the fire for that country's two-year ban on U.S. beef exports.

Mr. Talent joined 20 other Republican and Democratic senators in sending a letter this month to U.S. trade representative Rob Portman that sharply expressed their dissatisfaction with his office's continued inability to advance trade negotiations with Japan.

Many of the senators are also backing a bill that would impose tariffs on Japanese imports unless the Asian nation lifts its nearly two-year-old ban on U.S. beef by the end of the year, according to the Kansas City Star. Japan imposed the ban after a mad-cow scare in 2003.

The group hopes that the threat of sanctions would give U.S. trade negotiators leverage to force the Japanese government's hand.

"It's time to play hardball," Sen. Sam Brownback told the Star last week.

Japan was the largest foreign market for U.S. beef before the ban. Ironically, the animal that created the mad-cow panic in 2003 turned out to be from Canada.

Japan, on the other hand, is the fourth-largest source of imports to the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Japanese products sold here hit about $130 billion last year.

Japanese officials have indicated they want to lift the ban, and it does make sense. Agriculture authorities here point out that the United States has adopted a system for ensuring the safety of U.S. beef that exceeds the standards of the World Organization for Animal Health. They point out that Japan has reported more confirmed cases of mad-cow disease in Japan than in the United States.

But money drives this ban. And while free traders may wince, breaking the ban may take the threat of serious sanctions.