WASHINGTON (ANN/Jiji Press/The Japan News) — The United States on Tuesday criticised Japan over its tariff on rice imports.
“Look at Japan, tariffing rice, 700 per cent,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a press briefing.
“President Donald Trump believes in reciprocity,” she said, suggesting that Japanese rice may be subject to so-called reciprocal tariffs that the administration plans to impose next month.
“All he’s asking for at the end of the day are fair and balanced trade practices,” Leavitt said of Trump.
In February, Trump instructed officials to create strategies for reciprocal tariffs, aiming to match the level of tariffs imposed by trading partners.
Japan imposes a tariff of JPY341 per kilogram of imported rice that surpasses a duty-free quota, a policy aimed at protecting local farmers. The country declined to lower the tariff during the first Trump administration.
The U.S. International Trade Commission last week reported that an increase in U.S. rice production and exports are anticipated if Japan expands its duty-free import quota. It also criticised Japan’s rice import policy for lacking transparency.
