Yeutter Off to Japan, Sees Deal Near on Beef Imports

U.S. Trade Representative Clayton K. Yeutter announced today he was leaving immediately for Japan, saying a deal may be near on ending that nation’s restrictions on beef imports.

“We certainly have not yet reached an agreement, but I’m persuaded that the news is sufficiently encouraging to justify a trip,” the nation’s top trade negotiator told reporters.

A day earlier, Yeutter had said he would go to Tokyo “only if it becomes apparent to me that we have a settlement in sight.”

At the White House, spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said, “We remain hopeful. . . . Until there’s a deal, there’s no deal.”

A previous agreement between the two countries that permitted a Japanese quota of 214,000 tons of beef imports a year expired April 1 and negotiations had been deadlocked since then.

The United States insisted on an end to beef quotas and also to quotas applying to citrus products. It has sought to have the matter resolved under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, but Japan vetoed such a procedure.

U.S. officials have said that if Japan’s quotas were dropped, American beef sales could reach about $1.5 billion over four years.

Yeutter said he did not want to discuss the details of whatever preliminaries have been resolved at this point. There has been speculation on Capitol Hill about a possible multi-year phase-out of quotas accompanied by tariffs. But Yeutter said nothing of such specifics.