Toss another steak on the grill, the politicians have made a decision.
Japan agreed Wednesday to lift a ban on U.S. beef imports, pending inspections of U.S. meat processing plants to dispel concerns over mad cow disease, the Agriculture Ministry said.
The breakthrough resolves a thorny, long-running trade dispute between the allies, and gives U.S. ranchers access to what was once their most lucrative export market.
Beef - it's what's for dinner - in Tokyo again!
This is a big story for a lot on folks in "flyover country".
At stake was a trading relationship worth millions of dollars to the U.S. beef industry. Japan’s market was worth $1.4 billion annually when it banned American beef in response to the first U.S. case of mad cow disease in 2003.
The ban had only recently been lifted before Japan halted shipments earlier this year.
$1.4 billion in beef. That's a lot of burgers.
American officials had been impatient for trade to resume, with several U.S. senators saying Tuesday they were introducing a bill that would impose trade sanctions if Japan did not reopen its market to U.S. beef by Aug. 31.
Only US processing facilities who meet Japanese guidelines will be able to export their beef. Not surprisingly, there's some controversy.
Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima characterized the decision as “a souvenir” for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to give President Bush when he visits the U.S. later this month, according to Kyodo News agency. The two leaders are scheduled to meet in Washington on June 29 and travel to Elvis Presley’s Graceland home in Memphis, Tenn., the next day.
So it looks like US ranchers may have an early Christmas present. A how appropriate is it that Elvis may have a hand in increasing the availability of quintessentially American food!
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