Category Archives: Trade Talks

TOKYO, May 18 — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has reaffirmed that he will not accept any terms that would shift the balance of benefits further in favor of the U.S. in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), even if the U.S. might return. “In the agriculture area, there will be no more concession.” Abe told the lower house cabinet committee on May 17. “I made the promises to our farmers and I will stick to my guns,” he added. Abe cited a recent exchange with the U.S. President Donald Trump over the TPP and said: “I made it clear to Mr. Trump that our offer was pretty much the maximum Japan … Continue reading →

TOKYO, May 17 — Japan would lose out on 74 billion yen in tariff revenues once the revised Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), also known as TPP-11, fully comes into force. Revenue loss from agriculture imports has the most important impact, when the TPP-11 is fully implemented — a revenue loss of 62 billion yen. The revenue loss from the TPP-11 tariff cuts would add more pressure on farmers, because the revenues have been used to support programs to enhance farm income and promote stability for farm businesses, such as beef and dairy. Experts say that the lost revenue must be replaced in some different manner to maintain the programs. The government … Continue reading →

TOKYO, April 21 — A recent announcement that Japan and the U.S. are to start talks on trade deals would not lead to “a new free trade agreement (FTA)”, Japanese Agriculture Minister Ken Saito has stressed. “The announcement is neither considered as a new FTA negotiation, nor as preliminary talks to launch a bilateral trade negotiation,” Saito said at an April 20 press conference. His comments came as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the U.S. President Donald Trump had announced in Florida after two days of meetings that ended April 18 that they will start talks on “free, fair and reciprocal trade deals.” However, the announcement has left many … Continue reading →

TOKYO, April 25 — Japanese Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and his U.S. counterpart, Robert Lighthizer, may hold the first ministerial meeting after the current session in Japan’s parliament, the Diet, ends June 20. “We have indicated to the U.S. that the meeting is likely to take place in late June and after,” Motegi said at an April 24 press conference. His comment came after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the U.S. President Donald Trump announced at Mar-a-Lago, the president’s resort club in Florida, that they will start talks on “free, fair and reciprocal trade deals.” They also said that Motegi and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will head up … Continue reading →

TOKYO, April 4 — Contrary to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), whose texts won’t be made public for some time, the remaining 11 members have not been asked to sign an agreement promising to keep the revised trade pact secret. “There is no such agreement among the TPP-11 members,” Japan’s director-general for the TPP, Kazuhisa Shibuya, told the upper house agriculture committee on April 3. “But you should not be surprised that this is essentially the same as the context for practicing regular diplomacy, we do not to disclose any documents for some time,” he added. In the original TPP, the trade agreement text will be kept secret for four years … Continue reading →