Bipartisan group urges Japan to allow access for U.S. fresh potatoes
Published 1:30 pm Friday, March 13, 2026
President Donald Trump should urge Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae to open Japan’s market to U.S. fresh, table-stock potatoes, a bipartisan group of 68 U.S. senators and representatives urge in a recent letter.
Sanae is scheduled to meet Trump at the White House March 19.
“Technical discussions have not made meaningful progress,” the legislators wrote March 11. “We urge you to prioritize this issue in your discussions with the prime minister and find a lasting solution for U.S. potato growers.”
The U.S. first requested fresh potato access in Japan more than 30 years ago, and the petition was elevated to a top priority in U.S.-Japan plant health negotiations in September 2019. “But since then — despite the efforts of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the Office of the United States Trade Representative — Japan continues to delay substantive technical discussions on table stock potato access,” according to the letter. “There is no valid phytosanitary justification for these delays.”
Japan “continues to shut U.S. potatoes out of its market with no scientific basis,” the senators and representatives wrote.
The National Potato Council during its recent Washington, D.C., summit passed a resolution urging the Trump administration to address the topic.
The letter, led by Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), says gaining market access in Japan for U.S. fresh potatoes would result in an estimated $150 million in new annual exports, make Japan the largest export market for U.S. fresh potatoes outside North America and “bring tremendous benefits for farming communities in our states,” according to the release.
Opening the Japan market to U.S. fresh potatoes “would provide an immediate boost to the family farms in the Pacific Northwest and across the nation,” said Greg Harris, Potato Council vice president of finance and a Boardman, Ore., grower. “This bipartisan effort sends a clear message that the U.S. expects Japan to honor its trade commitments and provide a level playing field for our producers.”
“What clearly has changed a bit is President Trump’s tariff strategy has clearly created leverage on countries like Japan to improve the terms of trade in a number of industries including agriculture,” council CEO Kam Quarles said in an interview. “That gives us a unique opportunity.”
“This market needs to be open, and we are hoping the president can do that when he meets with the new Japanese prime minister,” he said. “Several things coming together right now creates this opportunity.”
After 30 years, “there’s really not anything substantive left to negotiate,” Oregon Potato Commission executive director Gary Roth said. “It’s just a matter of getting the Japanese to open the market for full access.” In the letter, senators and representatives “are saying essentially this has gone on long enough. It’s time to open the market.”
The Oregon commission has weighed on the issue previously and during the Potato Council’s recent D.C. summit. At the commission, “we are as optimistic as we’ve ever been. There’s growing interest in this, and there’s growing pressure,” he said.
Oregon is a major potato exporter because of access to shipping and to Pacific Rim markets. Japan is one of Oregon’s largest markets for frozen potato products, Roth said. The state also sells chip stock to Japan.
Much of agriculture is hurting, and the U.S. potato industry has high supply and low prices.
“Anyone in ag would rather see free market access than to have to ask for assistance from the government,” Roth said.
“U.S. family farmers are facing an economic crisis fueled by low market prices and high input costs,” Brett Jensen, Potato Council vice president of trade affairs and a potato grower from Idaho Falls, Idaho, said in the release.
About 20% of American-grown potatoes are exported, according to the council.
“Japan represents a massive market with significant export opportunities for American potato growers,” the letter said. “Securing this long-delayed market access petition and unlocking the critical Japanese export market would make a meaningful difference for potato growers in our states and across the country.”