Overview
Japan, with a population of about 125 million, is a major importer
of agricultural products. Japan's mountainous topography limits the
total area available for farming, and the farm area is divided into
holdings that are too small to produce most foods efficiently in a
modern, urban economy. Japan protects key sectors of its agricultural
production with tariffs, which have contributed to high food costs
in Japan. Despite the protection, Japan imports over $30 billion in
agricultural products each year, one-third from the United States,
the leading supplier of Japan's agricultural imports. Japan is one
of the largest export markets for U.S. agriculture. ERS analyzes important
aspects of Japan's food and agricultural sectors and the policies
that affect Japan's role in world agricultural trade.
Features
The Japanese
Market for Oranges (March 2008) reviews the trade,
production, and consumption of oranges in Japan, which
is one of the largest markets for U.S. orange exports.
Consumption and trade peaked in the mid-1990s. The report
uses recent research findings about demographic and economic
changes that might explain why consumption has fallen off
in the past 15 years.
Resolution of
the U.S.-Japan Apple Dispute: New Opportunities for Trade (October
2005) examines the expected impact of Japan's new phytosanitary
protocol for imports of U.S.
apples that complies with the recent World Trade Organization
ruling. With the elimination of the restrictive fire-blight
protocol, U.S.
producers have a new opportunity to export apples to a high-quality
export market, at a significantly lower cost than before.
Recommended Readings
Dairy
Policies in Japan
(August 2005 ) provides a detailed description and analysis of
Japan's policies that support its milk producers and regulate
dairy markets. If Japan's policies were liberalized, prices and
production in Japan would fall, but sizable milk production would
remain.
Wheat and
Barley Policies in Japan (November 2004 ) provides
a detailed description and analysis of policies used
by Japan to support its wheat and barley producers. Japan
uses tax revenues and a markup on prices of wheat and
barley imported within a quota to provide large direct
payments to producers. Consumers and taxpayers ultimately
pay for this support.
Rice Sector Policies
in Japan
(March 2003) describes government policies affecting
rice farming in Japan. The tariff-rate quota, by limiting foreign
competition, allows rice prices in Japan that are much higher
than outside Japan, and is the main form of support for rice.
Within Japan, government subsidies compensate farmers for declines
in the rice price.
See all recommended readings...
Recommended Data Products
Production, Supply, and Distribution (PS&D)
contains official USDA data on production, supply, and distribution
of agricultural commodities for the United States and
major importing and exporting countries. The database provides
projections for the coming year and historical data for more
than 200 countries
and major crop, livestock, fishery, and forest products.
Foreign Agricultural Trade of the United
States (FATUS) provides U.S. agricultural exports and imports,
volume and value, by country, by commodity, and by calendar year,
fiscal year, and month, for varying periods, such as 1935 to the
present or 1989 to the present. Updated monthly or annually.
WTO Agricultural Trade Policy Commitments Database
contains data on implementation of trade policy commitments by
WTO member countries. Data on domestic support, export subsidies,
and
tariffs are organized for comparison across counties. This queriable
database offers various options for viewing and downloading
data.
Agricultural Market Access Database
(AMAD) is a publicly available tool for analyzing WTO market access
issues in agriculture. It contains data and information for
WTO
member countries, including tariff schedules, tariff bindings,
applied tariff rates, country notifications to the WTO, import
quantities,
and other data useful in tariff analysis.
Recent Research Developments
Japan's agricultural policies and their effects are the object
of an ongoing study by ERS and the USDA Foreign Agricultural
Service's
Tokyo office. The ERS outlook series includes articles written
as part of the project on policies specific to certain commodities
in Japan, such as rice,
wheat and barley,
dairy, pork, oilseeds,
vegetables,
and
sweeteners. Additional
articles are planned on policies affecting beef, fruits,
and feedstuffs. The study team is planning an overview of Japan's
policies that explores the direction in which policies are moving
and the relative distortionary effects of various policies on
markets inside and outside the country. Contact: John
Dyck.
Related Briefing Rooms
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Agricultural Baseline Projections
U.S. Agricultural Trade
Related Links
Additional data and information on
Japan are available from USDA, other U.S. Government sources, international
organizations, Japan's government, and other sources.
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