A trade mission is to take place in April as the US looks to create further agricultural trading links with Japan.

US agricultural secretary Tom Vilsack will visit Japan on 5-9 April as part of President Barack Obama's wider efforts to increase US exports.

While he is in the country, Mr Vilsack is due to meet with Japan's minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries Hirotaka Akamatsu, as well as US exporters and Japanese importers.

In addition to giving a keynote speech on 7 April at a Global Food Symposium, Mr Vilsack will also meet with students at the University of Tokyo, and give a correspondents speech at the Foreign Correspondents Club on 9 April.

'We are determined to increase export opportunities for farmers and ranchers,' said Mr Vilsack. 'My mission on this trip will be to continue to push hard to open markets and to bolster an open, rules-based international trading system that will benefit both consumers and our farmers and ranchers, who supply agricultural products around the world.'

In his State of the Union address, President Obama had announced a National Export Initiative to coordinate federal efforts to help rebuild the economy by increasing export opportunities.

The Initiative's goal is to double all US exports over the next five years, improving collaborations between USDA agencies and agricultural research in the process.

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