The Japanese government said on Friday it will impose emergency tariffs from August on frozen beef from the United States and some other regions.

Tariffs on frozen beef from the affected regions will be raised from the current 38.5 percent to 50 percent from August 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018, according to the government.

The so-called safeguard mechanism, aimed at protecting Japanese cattle farmers, was triggered by a surge in frozen beef imports in the April to June quarter which, according to government data, reached 89,253 tons, up 17.1 percent from a year earlier.

Under World Trade Organization rules, Japan is allowed to activate the safeguard mechanism when the volume of beef import grows more than 17 percent from a year earlier on a quarterly basis.

As Australian beef is exempted from the emergency measure due to a bilateral free trade agreement, the U.S., as the second largest supplier of frozen beef to Japan following Australia, is to be the major country affected by the tariff hike.

U.S. Meat Export Federation President Philip Seng reportedly said that the tariff hike "will not only have negative implications for U.S. beef producers, but will also have a significant impact on the Japanese food-service industry."

Japan's farm minister Yuji Yamamoto told reporters on Friday that the measures would only have "limited effects" on ordinary consumers as frozen beef affected by the emergency measure accounts for only 20 percent of Japan's total beef imports.

Japan's deputy prime minister Taro Aso said that he is ready to discuss the emergency measure at an economic dialogue with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence scheduled later this year.