Grassley, Baucus urge White House to keep pressure on Japan to accept U.S. beef

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Grassley, Baucus urge White House to keep pressure on Japan to accept U.S. beef

The following press release was published by the United States Committee on Finance Ranking Member’s News on Sept. 20, 2005. It is reproduced in full below.

Dear President Bush:

Earlier this year, we wrote to thank you for your direct involvement in encouraging Japanto lift its ban on U.S. beef exports. Unfortunately, little progress has been made since that time.The United States cattle and beef industries are losing hundreds of millions of dollars each monththat the Japanese market remains closed to U.S. beef products. American ranches andmeatpacking jobs have been lost, and many others have been put at risk.

In October of 2004 - ten months after Japan first imposed a ban on U.S. beef inDecember 2003 - the United States and Japan signed a framework agreement to remove the ban.It has been nearly one year since that October 2004 agreement, but beef products from farms andranches in Iowa, Montana, and elsewhere in America appear no closer to appearing on Japanesestore shelves.

The Japanese government, pursuant to the October 2004 agreement, is currently involvedin a process to determine when and how to resume imports of U.S. beef products. We areconcerned, however, that this administrative process is leading to an indefinite delay in theJapanese resuming U.S. beef imports. We urge you to continue pressing the Japanese to concludetheir administrative process and resume U.S. beef imports before this issue becomes an evengreater irritant in U.S.-Japanese trade and economic relations.

Thank you for your efforts on this important issue. We look forward to working with youto resolve this problem.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Grassley Chairman

Max Baucus Ranking Member

Source: Ranking Member’s News

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