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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
The Japanese tariff on U.S. beef has dropped gradually from 38.5% in 2019 to 23.3% this year as a result of the three-year-old U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement, a prime example of the kind of free trade agreement the U.S. ag sector and some lawmakers say they want to see replicated.
The halt in operations at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach was brief and union workers are now back on their jobs, but the stoppage at the largest port complex in the U.S. created a scare for U.S. meat exporters and their foreign customers, according to U.S. Meat Export Federation spokesman Joe Schuele.
Supermarket prices rose another 0.3% last month, driven in part by jumps in the cost of beef and pork, but food inflation continues to ease from the spikes shoppers saw in 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.
The Agriculture Department reduced its fiscal 2023 forecast for U.S. ag exports to $190 billion, a $3.5 billion drop from the agency’s last estimate in August, largely reflecting weaker expectations for soybean sales.
Supermarket prices rose another 0.7% last month, driven by continued increases in nearly every category in the store, and food costs are now up 13% over the past year.
Lawmakers are signaling they may be ready to boost funding for ag promotion overseas, and farm groups are hungry for the dollars that they say increase foreigners' appetite for U.S.-grown food.
