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Rice excluded from preliminary US-Japan trade deal, growers disappointed

The USA Rice Federation says they’re extremely disappointed that rice was left out of the preliminary trade agreement between the US and Japan.  California rice farmer and chair of the organization Charley Mathews says the industry expects to be included in subsequent rounds of talks. 

A representative of the organization tells Brownfield USA Rice wants the trade agreement to address access issues to the market.  While Japan is the 3^rd largest importer of US rice, the association says the current system is manipulated by the Japanese government. And US rice growers want to see increased export volume and more direct access to consumers. 

USA Rice says it wasn’t supportive of TPP, either, as it failed to address those same issues.