Japan hiked tariffs on frozen beef imports from Canada, the United States and other counties July 28.
The tariff rises to 50 percent from 38.5 percent, until next March, Japan’s Ministry of Finance said.
The tariff hike is a “safeguard” mechanism to protect domestic farmers. It is the first time it has been triggered since 2003 when it applied to chilled beef, the farm ministry said.
An increase is automatic if quarterly imports of specific beef products — both from all nations and from those lacking economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with Japan — rise more than 17 percent from a year earlier.
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In Japan’s April-June first fiscal quarter, frozen beef imports from all nations, at 89,253 tonnes, were up 17.1 percent on the year, while imports from non-EPA nations reached 37,823 tonnes, up nearly a quarter.
Nations with EPAs with Japan, such as Australia, Mexico and Chile, escape the tariff hike.
Canada sold C$45 million of frozen boneless beef in 2016 to Japan and $16 million of frozen offal and tongues.
Total Canadian beef and veal exports to Japan to May of this year total just over $60 million, an increase of 24 percent.
