Category Archives: Trade Talks

TOKYO, Dec. 7 — Japan will slash its current mark-up prices on imported wheat, a move to lower the cost of imported wheat for Japanese millers, informed sources have said. It will help Japanese millers to compete with European-made wheat products such as biscuits, cookies and pastas. The government decided to cut its current 17 yen a kilogram mark-up on imported wheat for biscuits and cookies, by 45 percent. It will also reduce the mark-up for pastas all the way down to 1 or 2 yen per kilogram. The timing of the decision coincides with a trade agreement between Japan and the EU, finalized on Dec. 8. Over a period … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Dec. 10 — Japan and the EU have finalized a free trade agreement, by separating contentious issues such as foreign investors’ protections and data flows from the deal. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, stressed the strategic importance of the deal in a Dec. 8 joint statement. “Amid widening protectionist movements,” they said, the deal “demonstrates to the world the firm political will of Japan and the EU to keep the flag of free trade waving high and powerfully advance free trade.” They added: “With the finalization of the negotiations, the path is now clear to complete the internal procedures leading to the … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Nov. 27 — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to expand Japanese agri-food exports and boost farmers’ incomes. “Building sustainable overseas sales channels is the key to increase farmers’ income,” said Abe at a Nov. 24 meeting held by the agriculture ministry to promote Japanese agri-food exports. Abe pointed to the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) as well as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). He said: “These trade deals create an opportunity to boost exports as they remove tariffs imposed on Japanese agri-foods.” The Japanese government wants to increase agriculture exports and has set a target to boost the annual value of agricultural exports … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Nov. 30 — The finance ministry has decided to maintain a provision that allows Japan to invoke a World Trade Organization (WTO) special safeguard mechanism in the event of a sharp rise in beef imports in the year starting April 2018. In August, Tokyo imposed the WTO safeguard to restrict frozen beef imports temporarily by raising the tariff, after the imports rises more than 17% year-on-year in the April-June quarter. It mainly affects U.S. producers because they are the main suppliers of frozen beef to Japan, and Washington doesn’t have a free trade agreement with Tokyo. The measure will remain in effect through the fiscal year that ends March … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Nov. 25 — The Japanese government has adopted a revised policy package to help dairy and livestock farmers adjust to increased agricultural food imports entering Japan under new trade deals. That move comes as Tokyo and Brussels aim to complete the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) by the end of the year. The government now needs to get Diet approval for financing with a supplementary budget for fiscal 2017. All cabinet members approved the revised package at a Nov. 24 meeting of the consolidated headquarters that facilitate Japan’s early entry into trade agreements. It includes the Japan-EU EPA as well as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific … Continue reading →