U.S. Fresh Potato Exports to Japan Pt 2
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. A group of Senators, including Washington Democrat Maria Cantwell and Idaho Republican Jim Risch are urging the President to help get U.S. fresh potatoes accepted in Japan.
Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council, says they’ve seen no signs of change since their trip to Japan last fall for bilateral talks …
QUARLES … “Where, again, the U.S. was told, wait for another year and we will talk about this. And that’s been the similar story every single year when they get together for these discussions. And it’s just, it’s not acceptable from the U.S. side.”
So, can we put our foot down and say, enough? …
QUARLES … “Yeah, certainly Japan has things that they’re looking for either in the agriculture space or in other industries that they want to trade with the United States. At some point, the administration has gotta say, look, we’re not going to move forward on those priorities unless you address what U.S. farmer care about.”
The Senators, Quarles says see what’s happening …
QUARLES … “I think these Senators standing up and saying, look, time has run out, we are tired of this. I think that’s a signal that the administration needs to start figuring out its next steps on how to deal with these Japanese stalling tactics.”
Quarles says it’s great to see this kind of support for a problem they’ve been working on for a long time.
