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2025 August 13 - 19 [POLITICS]

Is it okay for Japan to rely on US for food supplies?

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

The Japan-U.S. tariff negotiations, in which Japan gave in to the Trump administration’s demands, were extremely sloppy with no agreement documents produced. After the new tariff rates came into effect, discrepancies arose between the two countries in their interpretation of the tariff rates.

When announcing the “agreement” (which was actually a verbal agreement) on July 23, Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru emphasized that “it does not include any content that would sacrifice Japan’s agriculture.” However, this diverges sharply from the announcement made by the United States.

The Japanese government’s announcement is vague. It states that rice, which is the country’s staple food, will be procured as necessary within the minimum access rice quota while taking into consideration the domestic supply and demand situation. It also states that imports of soybeans and corn from the United States will be expanded.

On the other hand, the U.S. announcement is specific. It states that Japan will immediately increase its imports of U.S. rice by 75% and will purchase 8-billion-dollars worth of U.S. food and farm products, including corn, soybeans, fertilizers, and bioethanol.

U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly made unfounded criticisms, claiming, “Japan imposes a 700% tariff on rice,” and pressured Japan to open its rice market. The Japanese government has explained to the general public that it will not use the expansion of rice imports as a bargaining chip. However, in reality, Japan will increase imports from the U.S., clearly yielding to Trump’s demands.

The Ishiba government says that since MA (minimum access) rice is not used for human consumption, the increase in the quota of MA rice will not affect domestic rice production. However, importing 770,000 tons of MA rice per year for more than 20 years has weakened the Japanese rice production base. If the 350,000 tons of U.S.-produced MA rice, which accounts for about half of the total, is increased by 75%, it will total 600,000 tons. Most of this rice is medium-grain rice, which competes with domestically produced medium-grain rice. Even if not used for food, it would put pressure on domestic rice for processing purposes.

More than 90% of imported corn and soybeans come from the United States. The “agreement” announced by PM Ishiba will further decrease Japan’s food self-sufficiency rate. Japan’s food supply will be at the mercy of the Trump administration’s “America First” policy, inevitably threatening Japan’s food security.

While being forced to accept additional U.S. agricultural products, Japan will now face a new 15% tariff on its exports of green tea to the U.S. which was previously exempt from tariffs. A high tariff of 26.4% will remain in place on Japan’s high quality beef exports to the U.S.

This is an unequal “agreement” that unilaterally protects U.S. interests. Such an unreasonable “agreement” will not protect Japan’s economic sovereignty, self-sufficiency in rice, or agriculture overall.