On May 12, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced that Japan’s imports of U.S. beef in April increased by 20.6% on the year to 32,521 tons. The increase is attributable to the reduction of the tariff on U.S. beef from 26.6% to 25.8% based on the Japan-U.S. trade agreement, which took effect in January.

Beef imports from Australia and other member countries of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact were down by 12.1% to 35,327 tons due partly to the fact that their tariff rate is now equivalent to that on U.S. products.

But the new coronavirus outbreak has reportedly forced some U.S. meat processing facilities to close or cut production, which gives rise to the possibility that the increase in imports may be temporary.