UNITED STATES ACCESS TO JAPANESE AGRICULTURAL MARKETS.

SEC. 4608. UNITED STATES ACCESS TO JAPANESE AGRICULTURAL MARKETS. (a) Findings.—Congress finds that— (1) the United States requested establishment of a panel pursuant to Article XXIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (hereinafter in this section referred to as “GATT’) to examine Japanese import restrictions on 12 categories of agricultural products; (2) the GATT panel found that Japanese quantitative restrictions on 10 of the 12 product categories are inconsistent with Article XI of the GATT and recommended that Japan eliminate them or otherwise take action to bring them into conformity with the GATT; and (3) the rationale behind the GATT panel finding can also be applied to other restrictions that Japan maintains on imports from the United States, including— (A) a virtual ban on imports of United States rice; (B) a very restrictive quota on imports of United States beef; and (C) high tariffs and restrictive quotas on imports of United States citrus. (b) Sense of Congress.—It is the sense of Congress that— (1) the Government of Japan should immediately take actions to comply with the findings of the GATT panel report; (2) the Government of Japan should immediately liberalize its trade policies by lowering nigh tariffs and removing quotas on 102 STAT. 1411 agricultural imports from the United States, including those imposed on rice, beef, and citrus, in order to avoid any damage to the close relations between Japan and the United States; and (3) the United States should continue efforts to persuade the Government of Japan to remove its trade barriers.