Solution by Summer?

Japan insists that the U.S. test all cows for evidence of BSE. That, the U.S. says, is a bad idea -- too costly and without any scientific backing.

The result is stalemate -- a very costly one for the U.S. cattle industry, considering that Japan has posed a complete ban on U.S. beef imports until the issue is resolved.

Nevertheless, both sides agreed to resolve their stalemate by the summer. How? They don’t know yet, though they’re confident a solution will be worked out by the appointed deadline.

Much is at stake. Last year, Japan bought nearly $1.4 billion worth of U.S. beef of the $3.8 billion shipped worldwide.

Posted by Jim Langcuster at April 27, 2004 09:57 AM | TrackBack