April 24,2007

Grassley Urges President to Press Japan to Remove Barriers on U.S. Beef Imports

WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Committee on Finance, with jurisdiction over international trade, today urged President Bush to impress upon the Japanese prime minister the importance of lifting Japan’s scientifically unjustified barriers to U.S. beef imports. The President is meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Washington this Thursday and Friday.

Grassley, an Iowa Republican, has long urged U.S. trading partners such as Japan and South Korea to abandon scientifically unjustified barriers to U.S. beef imports and recognize the obvious safety of beef from Iowa and other beef-producing U.S. states. The text of Grassley’s letter to the President today follows here.

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