WASHINGTON, D.C. – Reps. Rick Larsen (WA-02) and Suzan DelBene (WA-01) urged U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel to work with their Japanese counterparts to ensure equal market access for Washington farmers by eliminating Japan’s damaging frozen blueberry tariffs.

“We urge you to pursue an amendment to the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement to ensure U.S. frozen blueberries receive the same market access in Japan as fresh or dried blueberries, as well as other frozen berries, all of which can enter Japan without a tariff,” the Washington lawmakers wrote in a pair of letters. “Doing so will allow U.S. farmers to compete on level terms with other blueberry exporting countries and would help save and revitalize market opportunities for U.S. berry farmers.”

The 2019 U.S.-Japan Phase One trade deal failed to fully account for a key bilateral trade flow: While the deal eliminated tariffs on fresh and dried blueberries, U.S. frozen blueberries continue to face 6.0 percent or 9.6 percent tariff rates in Japan, depending on sugar content. Japan lifted tariffs on frozen blackberries, raspberries and strawberries, leaving frozen blueberries produced in states like Washington as an outlier in terms of market access.

Washington state is the leading producer of blueberries in the U.S., and Whatcom, Snohomish and Skagit counties are among the top blueberry producing counties in the state. In August 2021, Ambassador Tai joined Larsen and DelBene for a meeting with local farmers, producers and Tribal leaders in Mount Vernon to discuss the importance of Asian market access to U.S. jobs. 

To read the Larsen-DelBene letter to Ambassador Tai, click here.

To read the Larsen-DelBene letter to Ambassador Emanuel, click here.

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