NPC disappointed that US/Japan deal does not address fresh market access

The National Potato Council (NPC) has expressed disappointment that a trade deal between Japan and the U.S. signed Oct. 28 did not include fresh market access for U.S. potatoes.

The U.S. has sought full market access to the Japanese market for decades.

U.S. President Donald Trump and newly elected Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi agreed to a trade deal and a deal regarding critical minerals. The U.S. has been working to diversify minerals produced in the production of electronics and military equipment and to reduce its reliance on China for global rare-earth supplies.

“It is very disappointing that the U.S. was unable to use President Trump’s tariff leverage to push past Japan’s protectionism and finally open this valuable market,” NPC CEO Kam Quarles said in a statement.

A meeting last week between President Trump and Prime Minister Takaichi did not include any mention of U.S. fresh potato access, nor was any reference made to it in follow-up statements, NPC said in a statement. That meeting was preceded by talks between USDA and Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries officials earlier this month, where Japan again provided no timeline for concluding the decades-long request.

Since the end of the first Trump administration, U.S. family farms have lost over $750 million in exports to Japan because of its potato protectionism, according to NPC.

“Despite this disappointment, we were pleased by U.S. Chief Agriculture Negotiator-nominee Dr. Julie Callahan’s comments Wednesday (Oct. 29) before the Senate Finance Committee, where she acknowledged Japan’s delaying strategy is a non-tariff trade barrier,” Quarles said. “This has been stated by our industry for years, and we very much appreciate Dr. Callahan’s clear assessment and focused intent to open this market to benefit family farms across the U.S.”

With low commodity prices and increased input costs fueled by ongoing tariff turmoil, the potato industry and specialty crops face a looming economic crisis.

“The loss of this opportunity in Japan deepens this crisis and increases the imperative for the administration and Congress to provide meaningful economic relief for U.S. specialty crop growers,” said Dean Gibson, NPC vice president of legislative affairs and a potato grower from Idaho.

Full access to the Japanese market for U.S. fresh potato exports would boost trade by $150 million annually, according to USDA estimates.