US desperate to help its farmers

THE US LEADER recently asked his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe to buy farm products worth $700 million, Kyodo News Agency reported last week, citing unidentified Japanese and US government sources. Beijing News comments:

The US leader has requested that Japan buy soybeans and wheat, adding that the request was separate from the framework of current trade talks between Washington and Tokyo. The Japanese government is considering its response and one proposal floated would be to purchase the farm products as food support for African countries, according to reports.

The Japanese people's anger over the "enforced deal" is understandable, as the US reportedly claimed the deal was to compensate US farmers for their loss as a result of the trade frictions instigated by the US administration.