This book charts the changes in Japanese agricultural policy in the post-war period and looks at the level at which such policy is designed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to protect its own interventionist powers

First published in 1982, the editors and authors of this book examine the United States’ 1973 embargo on the export of soybeans and its effects on U.S.-Japanese relations. Although eventually shipment of soybeans to Japan resumed, the embargo temporarily soured the friendly relations of the two democracies. This book, prepared by a group of Japanese and U.S. scholars, demonstrates how trade relations between the two countries are affected by their internal political situations and by the nature of their respective agricultural industries. U.S.-Japanese Agricultural Trade Relations will be valuable to scholars, policy makers, and others interested in agricultural trade. It should be particularly useful in courses on international trade and on agricultural policy.

The United States bans imports of certain agricultural and wildlife goods that can carry pathogens or diseases or whose harvest can threaten wildlife stocks or endanger species. Despite these bans, contraband is regularly uncovered in inspections of cargo containers and in domestic markets. This study characterizes the economic factors affecting agricultural and wildlife smuggling by drawing on inspection and interdiction data from USDA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and existing economic literature. Findings reveal that agricultural and wildlife smuggling primarily include luxury goods, ethnic foods, and specialty goods, such as traditional medicines. Incidents of detected smuggling are disproportionately higher for agricultural goods originating in China and for wildlife goods originating in Mexico. Fragmentary data show that approximately 1 percent of all commercial wildlife shipments to the United States and 0.40 percent of all U.S. wildlife imports by value are refused entry and suspected of being smuggled.