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McKinney leads wide ranging ag trade mission in Japan

Undersecretary Ted McKinney says the USDA trade mission he’s leading in Japan is one of the biggest of its kind and has been productive, “There’s already more than 375 business to business meetings. I have had a chance to visit briefly with many of those in the trade show, I guess, and they’re very optimistic. Some have already made sales.”

McKinney says more than 40 U.S. businesses are represented and more than a dozen state ag departments, mostly from the Western U.S.

Featured ag products include wine, craft beers, spirits, cookies, honey, coffee, nut crops, “For the Midwest folks, soy, corn, rice, beef, lamb et cetera. Fruits.”

He says where there haven’t been sales there have been solid leads and talks with Japanese government officials about continued and growing ag trade have been very positive and upbeat.

McKinney says the Japanese are realistic, knowing there might be more tariffs coming but they recognize the importance of the U.S. ag market and quality of U.S. ag products.