After talks with the United States last month on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement resulted in a stalemate, Japan now plans to give priority to talks with the other 10 TPP negotiating countries, government sources said Monday.

Japan had planned to reach an accord with the United States on tariff reductions on farm imports before taking advantage of the Japan-U.S. agreement to accelerate overall TPP negotiations.

At ministerial talks in Singapore in February, however, the two countries remained apart, prompting Japan to reverse its negotiation approach, the sources said.

Japan wants to exempt rice, wheat, beef and pork, dairy products and sweetening plants from tariff elimination, while the United States has refused to concede the Japanese position.

Japan now intends to strike agreements on the exemption with the 10 other countries, including Australia, and utilize the agreements to exert pressure on the United States in an effort to win a similar bilateral pact and make progress in overall TPP talks, the sources said.

Japan also plans to accelerate bilateral free trade agreement talks with Australia for a similar purpose, they said.

If a Japan-Australia FTA takes effect in the absence of any TPP agreement, Australia may get an advantage over the United States in exporting beef to Japan.

Source: Kyodo

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