Ishiba counters Trump's view on rice imports ahead of election

When someone does not want to make a fair trade deal then no need for more talking. It's okay Japan, you will receive a letter in two weeks. Trump is a man of action, not talking. The rest of the world still does not get this point.

PM Ishiba, fool trying to justify his high rice tariff policy that's resulted in insufficient rice supplies, hoarding and price gouging for the past year, punishing Japanese consumers/voters for no logical reason other than cronyism

When I lived in the United States I tried hard to find domestic rice that was as well milled as Japanese but could not

If Japan is pushed into additional purchases my guess is it will go to processed foods, not consumer facing retail.

Rice growing is only part of the issue. If you start milling imported rice down to the size Japanese customers want the prices will not be as competitive as you would expect.

Finally, even garbage USA rice like Nishiki is the equivalent of 2600 yen for 5kg.

Japan "won't take our RICE, and yet they have a massive rice shortage," Trump said in a recent social media post.

This is the only true thing that Trump has said in a while!

How Japanese politicians and Japan agriculture continue to fool the people in Japan with high rice prices is just astonishing!

Fairly certain the US could grow enough rice for Japan if the restrictions on the Japanese side were lifted.

Yea, the US has similar policies for sugar.

Why would Japan relinquish the production of an important commodity to an unpredictible and unreliable US?

Why would Japan relinquish the production of an important commodity to an unpredictible and unreliable US?

The rest of the world put tariffs on the US and when the US does it then all the whining and complaining that the US is unpredictible and unreliable. The US consumers are tired of being taken advantaged of and it will end in two weeks. No more freeloading from the rest of the world. The clock is ticking down, tick, tock, tick, tock

Never cuddle a rabid dog

The Japan GOVERNMENT does import some US rice, keeping it in stockpile, but makes it ridiculously expensive to PRIVATELY import with the 778% import tariff.

J-pol speak with forked tongue!

Japanese government need to show good faith by getting rid of tariff on rice from US. Trump is hinting you that. It might be the only way to negotiate lower tariff on auto from 25-27% to 10-15%. Ishiba needs to offer something because Japan can't have it both ways(also saving face for Trump). Besides, isn't it better to help your constituents during time of high inflation, especially on a staple like rice?

Also with the passage of the Big, Beautiful Bill, cars that run on gas will have advantage over EV. Isn't that better for Japanese car makers?

Stick to your guns Japan, Trump is an idiot and a bully!

As Japan's aging rice farmers busy disappearing daily, here's an idea, PM Ishiba can become a rice farmer in his 'retirement', as he's going to need a new job soon!

Japan GOVERNMENT does import some US rice, keeping it in stockpile, but makes it ridiculously expensive to PRIVATELY import with a 778% import tariff.

Try explaining that one to the average voter, as Govt. is supposed to HELP the voters, not PUNISH them!

The rest of the world put tariffs on the US and when the US does it then all the whining and complaining that the US is unpredictible and unreliable. The US consumers are tired of being taken advantaged of and it will end in two weeks. No more freeloading from the rest of the world. The clock is ticking down, tick, tock, tick, tock

Look who is whining and complaining, and all based on lies peddled by fear mongers looking for a scapegoat.

The rice thing is easy to solve for Japan.

Buy it, then resell it to other countries. Even if you take a loss, it’s small compared to tariffs.

The US imports rice because domestic supply cannot meet demand. How does exporting it help?

This is a good suggestion. Maybe instead of selling the rice, send it to countries that USAID no longer supports.

The Iran operation that the US did last week was called "Midnight Hammer". The tariff operation for the rest of the world in two weeks should be called "Sunrise Hammer" in appreciation of Japan's sunrise flag LOL.

1/Trump lies daily....if not about rice, then a myriad of other subjects

2/Trump changes his "mind " daily....on all things.

3/Trump changes allies and "trustworthy trade partners " daily

Dont get exasperated....deal with the time Trump has in office, wait for the next "thought bubble "....Mexican Wall. retake Panama Canal, give away half of Lithuania , make Gaza the new Monaco, invade Greenland etc

and let this flatulent period pass into history.

"As an independent nation, we cannot allow rice cultivation to decline because of increased imports," Ishiba said in the Fukushima meeting.

It’s already in decline.

SUPPORT JAPANESE RICE FARMERS! Because of you give in to the unhinged Trump, they'll sell the rice paddies to the building developer Yakuza and Japan will be fully dependent on things it can't control. What if they become dependent on US rice only for the next unhinged US president to decide he'd like to double it's price five years down the road?

USA don,t realise they can not grow decent rice. It awful, taste like something grown in the gutter. Japan already import 700,000 ton of the USA grown crap for stock feed and it making Japan protein sector less productive. Try given a hand full calrose to your chickens and watch them stop laying and deteriorate. Anyway Japan will import the good stuff from Vietnam to make up to short fall if need.

Trump is an idiot which is expected from a person with a IQ lower than Homer Simpson. Japan has the advantage because Bessent is a two time fail hedge fund CEO and can,t negotiate a can of drink from a vending machine if given then coins and instructions.

Japan will sink the USA economy if forced to sale of USA treasury bond. Add the Japanese Auto sector pulling out of the USA. The USA will be on it knees before the end of the year.

What Japan needs is reciprocity. Impose 30% tariffs on cancer-causing growth-hormone tainted U.S. beef imports. People will be healthier.

Ishiba's problem is that he cares more for the few farmers (relatively speaking) than to ALL the consumers who want cheaper rice. No one is saying that you can't sell Japan's golden grain at ten times its worth. There will always be fools that part with their money. But give consumers a real choice.

A very Japanese old man reaction. If someone doesn't agree with you, it's because they don't have sufficient understanding of the issue.

YeahRightToday  07:43 am JST

Ishiba's problem is that he cares more for the few farmers (relatively speaking) than to ALL the consumers who want cheaper rice. No one is saying that you can't sell Japan's golden grain at ten times its worth. There will always be fools that part with their money. But give consumers a real choice.

Well said, Common Sense = Most Voters Agree with You!

...Trump may be misinformed 

Say it ain't so!

MeiyouwentiToday  07:36 am JST

What Japan needs is reciprocity. Impose 30% tariffs on cancer-causing growth-hormone tainted U.S. beef imports. People will be healthier.

Easy for US consumers to buy grain fed hormone free beef in reality, just costs a little more, but worth it, for those serious about health. Can buy anything online!

Which is a drop in the bucket given the overall size of Japan's rice market.

I get it. Japan, and the LDP most especially, want to protect Japanese rice farmers. It looks like there will be consequences if Japan does not agree to import more. Look for more flexibility on the J-gov side after the July elections.

Japan imports 700,000 tons of rice every year tariff free and half of that comes from the US.

I'd stop importing U.S pork .

It's hormone pumped and covered in chlorine anyway !!

Just play him at his own game .

PM Ishiba, fool trying to justify his high rice tariff policy that's resulted in insufficient rice supplies, hoarding and price gouging for the past year, punishing Japanese consumers/voters for no logical reason other than cronyism

Agree.

Japan "won't take our RICE, and yet they have a massive rice shortage," Trump said in a recent social media post.

This is the only true thing that Trump has said in a while!

Beat me to it.

How Japanese politicians and Japan agriculture continue to fool the people in Japan with high rice prices is just astonishing!

Man, tell me about it.

When someone does not want to make a fair trade deal

America.

then no need for more talking. It's okay Japan, you will receive a letter in two weeks. Trump is a man of action,

And convicted criminal. Not the actions one should be proud of.

not talking.

He loves nothing more than a stage to talk and talk and talk. You dont know him very well it seems.

The rest of the world still does not get this point.

Difficult to get a point when none is made.

America.

Wrong,

And convicted criminal. Not the actions one should be proud of.

What does that have to do with anything?

He loves nothing more than a stage to talk and talk and talk.

That’s why he’s so relatable

You dont know him very well it seems.

And action, something previous Presidents TALKED ALOT about but never came through on

Difficult to get a point when none is made.

None that YOU personally liked.

The rest of the world put tariffs on the US and when the US does it then all the whining and complaining that the US is unpredictible and unreliable.

Very generalized and inaccurate. The US like all trading nations has had agreements in place with many nation, including free trade agreements. While true to say some nations had protective tariffs on selected items in trade with the US, the US also had some in place for some nations. Other nations had free trade agreements where 99% of both way goods had zero tariffs. Yet Trump hit all nations with across the board tariffs and somehow MAGA fans say its reciprocal. It isnt.

When nations make these agreements they are agreeing to the terms because they benefit from them. Trump wants all the benefit to be American, all the time. Trade does not work like that.

Consumer goods need people who want to buy them. Food needs to have a market of those wanting to consume what your offering. If the individuals show little interest in some of what you offer, thats life. People and cultures being different, have different likes and wants.

And action, something previous Presidents TALKED ALOT about but never came through on

You pick and choose dont you. Trump promise to end war in Europe in one day, 170 odd days later and zero progress. Mexico is going to pay for the wall. Americans now paying through Trumps "Big Disgusting Bill". Trump telling Americans it is other countries that pay for US Tariffs, not Americans. Rubbish!

Keep showing dedicated support for this criminal and his actions (lies) and destruction of America for the benefit of the mega rich. The longer Trump is the white house, the more people will come to loath him, just like his first term.

Japan needs to concentrate on domestic food production.

This is going to be a shock to Japanese folks:

Farmers in California use about 5-6 kg of active ingredient of pesticides per hectare a year on rice.

Farmers in Japan use about 15 kg of active ingredient of pesticides per hectare a year on rice.

Japan has one of the highest intensities of pesticide use in the world.

Australia has one of the lowest at about 2 kg ai/ha while Canada is around 2.4 kg ai/ha across all crops slightly less than the US at 2.4 kg ai/ha.

Japan uses 11.8 kg ai/ha across all crops.

Do you still want to eat rice and other crops grown in Japan?

LDP will loose seats, Ishiba will " accept responsibility" and Japan will have a new LDP PM within a couple of months. Rock solid.

The U.S. has a conspiracy to tightly control Japan by monopoly their very basic needs: Food supplies. The Japanese eat rice as their daily diet. Once if Japan's food supplies highly rely on the US, the Americans can starving the Japanese to comply the ridiculous demands from America. Japan can't do much to stop this because the farmers in Japan were aging people and they were dying out !

SanjinosebleedToday  06:50 am JST

Stick to your guns Japan, Trump is an idiot and a bully!

These exact words were spoken in Iran by the Ayatollah just a matter of about 2 weeks ago.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has to support J agriculture; it would be political suicide not to.

Also, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has to consider Japanese automakers significant exporter of vehicles to the United States, 2023/4 worth $40.9 billion.

One way or another Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has to negotiate a compromise. 

The retail price of 5kg rice in Kochi/Ino supermarkets are still close to 4500 yen.

John-SanToday  07:31 am JST

Japan will sink the USA economy if forced to sale of USA treasury bond. Add the Japanese Auto sector pulling out of the USA. The USA will be on it knees before the end of the year.

And where would that leave the Japanese economy? Be careful what you wish for there John-san. US economy ruined = Japanese economy ruined!

Japan’s Top Trading Partners

Below is a list showcasing 25 of Japan’s top trading partners, countries that imported the most Japanese shipments by dollar value during 2023. Also shown is each import country’s percentage of total Japanese exports.

United States: US$141.4 billion (20% of total Japanese exports)

The government here will never give up the doubled consumption tax revenue. Anyone who thinks rice will ever get cheaper again is badly fooled.

According to a report by Healthy Babies, Bright Futures, a portal site for protecting babies from harmful chemicals, all 105 rice products tested in U.S. grocery stores contained detectable levels of arsenic. This includes products sold at major supermarket chains such as Trader Joe's and Walmart. More than a quarter of the samples of infant rice cereal contained arsenic (100 ppb), exceeding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) limit.

In addition, traces of inorganic arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury were also detected in some rice products. The heavy metal content varies depending on the origin of the rice. For example, white rice from California and jasmine rice from Thailand had lower heavy metal content than brown rice and white rice from the southeastern United States.

If it's safe, you can buy it, but if it's not, there's no need to buy it.

Bret: Japan has been place in worst position' And have come through it because of their best commodity is there people. Where as the soft belly USAmerican use to Air con and a diet of gabbage have never done it hard and will kill off each other with their AR 15 if you look at them the wrong way LOL. It call the pussy effect. They are all ready whining about Canadain ditching their USA bound holidays. Crying like little babies. I work with both and the Japanese work ethic is miles higher compare to the USAmerican tip receiving slacker.

USA don,t realise they can not grow decent rice. It awful, taste like something grown in the gutter.

I read stuff like this and shake my head wondering what rice this person ate and how it was prepared. Or if this is just raw nationalism coloring their opinion. I have eaten rice all over Asia except Japan ( my intended stay in Japan was cut short as our orders changed forcing an early departure ) as well as Italian and US grown varieties. Calrose and Texmati are premium rice varieties. Italian rice is very different than Asian or US rices and prepared very differently so hard to compare but preparing rices in our home in our trusty Zojirushi "Neuro-fuzzy" rice cooker the US varieties come out as nice tasting as the Asian varieties.

According to a report by Healthy Babies, Bright Futures, a portal site for protecting babies from harmful chemicals, all 105 rice products tested in U.S. grocery stores contained detectable levels of arsenic. This includes products sold at major supermarket chains such as Trader Joe's and Walmart. More than a quarter of the samples of infant rice cereal contained arsenic (100 ppb), exceeding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) limit.

Rice grown in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas are grown mostly on land that was formerly growing cotton. Cotton crops received a lot of chemicals you would not put on food crops and the chemicals remain in the soil decades after farmers stopped using them. Now the rice grown there absorbs some of these chemicals.

Rice grown in California is grown on clean farmland and because of the very different way rice is grown there there are very little herbicides and pesticides used. This is a major distinction between California rice and other US rice growing regions.

IMHO, let Ishiba delude himself and Japan, Japanese people voted him in, they deserve to reap what they sow.

There is no factual basis for anything Ishiba says.

Japan has a quota for tariff free rice, it's 1/10th of demand. Tariff on rice is $2.40/kg, wholesale, by the time it reaches the consumer, it is much much more tgan $2.40/kg. Japan barely produces enough to supply demand, and its growers are inefficient relative to global leaders.

Now if Japan wants to trade an efficient, globally competitive auto industry for an inefficient rice industry, let them. Some time, you just have to leave people to their own devices, send the unilateral tariff letter, let Ishiba chew on it.

All USA grown rice is garbage just one is worst then the other. Japans Japonica wet farming rice is the world best and most expensive. Top restaurant around the world can't get enough of it. I figure that their knowledge and experience has more validity than a random traveler.

Trump’s ignorance is embarrassing.

Why does Japan have a 700% tariff on imported rice from America?

IMHO, let Ishiba delude himself and Japan, Japanese people voted him in, they deserve to reap what they sow.

No, they didn't vote him in. Ishiba is not a president. They voted the party in, the curiously named Liberal Democratic Party. And the LDP chose him.

Japans Japonica wet farming rice is the world best and most expensive.

It's the most expensive certainly. Some Japanese at least do not share your opinion of Calrose.

https://soranews24.com/2025/02/17/with-japanese-rice-prices-going-crazy-can-california-rice-win-over-our-japanese-taste-testers/

the most expensive certainly.

Yes, same as the farming method in China. But the Japanese government want to protect these elderly people to continue get their income otherwise the LDP will not get their vote. And if Japan is totally rely on imported food , that means this country is under totally under US manipulations !