TOKYO, JAPAN – Last week, a group of USA Rice staff and members traveled here for a market visit with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Under Secretary Luke Lindberg and more than a dozen other U.S.-based USDA cooperator representatives.
The visit here followed a recent visit by USDA officials to the United Kingdom as part of the Trade Reciprocity for U.S. Manufacturers and Producers, better known as T.R.U.M.P. missions, announced in September. In July, President Donald Trump announced he had reached an agreement with Japan to reduce reciprocal tariffs, spur U.S. investment, and significantly expand annual exports of U.S. rice to Japan. As a result of that agreement, USDA is working to take advantage of that renewed commitment to trade and organized an official visit.
On the front half of the agenda, just days before Japan’s governing political party elected the former Economic Security Minister over the Agriculture Minister to lead the party, U.S. attendees participated in an economic and political situation briefing by U.S. Embassy staff and visits with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service staff that oversee policy, sanitary and phytosanitary regulations, and U.S. trade promotion efforts. Following the Embassy-based activities, cooperators participated in a series of tours in the “field” to share promotional highlights with Lindberg.
On Friday, USDA convened a roundtable that included various private sector rice importers, wholesalers, food service, retail, and academia representatives, along with U.S. government and USA Rice attendees. The Japanese participants highlighted the growing acceptance of U.S. rice in the food service and retail market. They pointed to consistent quality and favorable price as key advantages to using U.S. rice and also pointed out challenges around the complex rice import process in Japan that can limit the availability of U.S. rice stocks coming into the country.
“We were pleased to hear so many positive attributes from the importer side regarding U.S. rice and their desire to continue growing the market through Japan-based promotions,” said Nicole Montna Van Vleck, a California rice farmer and USA Rice Board member who joined the U.S. delegation.
Kim Gallagher, another California rice farmer and USA Rice member who made the trip, said, “We appreciated the opportunity to show Under Secretary Lindberg how we utilize our USDA promotional funding in the marketplace. Japan is a perfect test case where we’ve spent more than two decades building relationships with importers, retailers, and wholesalers, and our growth in market share and market acceptance there speaks for itself.”
Following the roundtable with importers and industry, USA Rice and other cooperators joined Lindberg at an AEON store, Japan’s largest retailer, where they highlighted U.S. rice proudly labeled and displayed on store shelves (see
USA Rice Daily, May 20, 2025).
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins had been scheduled to participate in the trip but canceled due to the government shutdown.