FTA

Japan hopes for TPP accord in February

03/01/2014    35

TOKYO —The Japanese government is hoping that Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade negotiations will conclude with an agreement in February.

The 12-nation talks, led by the U.S., had set an ambitious timetable of December 2013 for the conclusion of a pact but negotiators were unable to reach agreement on abolishing tariffs on sensitive items such as automobiles and agricultural products.

Yasutoshi Nishimura, senior vice minister at the Cabinet Office, who attended the last set of talks in Singapore in early December, said at a year-end news conference in Tokyo that a ministerial meeting is being arranged for February so the momentum doesn’t falter, Sankei Shimbun reported.

Akira Amari, the economy minister handling talks with the U.S. and other countries on the TPP talks, missed the December meeting because of surgery for cancer of the tongue. He returned to work on Dec 26 and will represent Japan at the February meeting if it is held.

However, the Japanese government—under heavy pressure from the farm lobby—has given no indications that it is willing to compromise on the tariff issue.

The TPP is being negotiated by Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. They make up 40% of the global economy and other countries may join the pact later.

U.S. President Barack Obama has hailed the TPP as a centerpiece of renewed U.S. engagement in Asia, saying it contains market-opening commitments that go well beyond those in other free-trade accords.

Besides opening up Japan’s auto and farm markets, other sticking points are patent issues, government procurement and limiting the role of state-owned enterprises—said by some countries to distort competition.

Source: Japan Today

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