U.S. Rice Industry Files Complaint on Japan Import Quota

The U.S. rice industry asked the government today to put its weight behind the industry’s charge that Japan unfairly restricts rice imports, and to force Japan to give 10% of its market to imports.

The request was filed in the form of the first Section 301 petition under the new trade law. U.S. Trade Ambassador Clayton Yeutter will have 45 days to decide whether the complaint is justified--a deadline that falls just before the presidential election.

Stephen Gabbert, president of the Rice Millers’ Assn., said shoppers in Japan pay 10 times the world price for rice because of Japan’s policy of subsidizing its own rice industry. Only a tiny amount of rice is imported.

Arkansas, California, Lousiana, Texas and Mississippi are the leading rice-growing states.