Category Archives: Trade Talks

TOKYO, Dec. 31 ― The landmark Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) without the U.S., also known as TPP-11, entered into force on Dec. 30, 2018, bringing steep tariff cuts to the first six countries that ratified the trade pact, including Japan, Australia and Canada. That will likely pose challenges for businesses that require Japanese farmers to increase competitiveness at home. Vietnam will officially enter the pact on Jan 14, 2019, while Brunei, Chile, Malaysia and Peru will come on board 60 days after they complete their ratification procedures. With the TPP-11, tariffs were slashed to zero overnight for some products, while others will be reduced over a period of up to 20 … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Dec. 6 ― Japan’s Agriculture Minister Takamori Yoshikawa reaffirmed that his government will not go beyond the already historic concessions Tokyo had offered to Washington in the Trade-Pacific Partnership (TPP) at upcoming bilateral talks with the U.S. Testifying before the lower house of agriculture committee on Dec. 5, Yoshikawa told fellow parliamentarians: “Go beyond the TPP concessions is just unimaginable.” Japan and the U.S. is expected to kick off negotiations for a trade agreement on goods (TAG) as early as January 2019, and the U.S. President Donald Trump recently expressed a willingness to get “a substantially better TPP” deal. The U.S. rice industry, the largest rice exporter to Japan … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Dec. 1 ― The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) without the U.S., known as TPP-11, is set to come into force on Dec. 30, and the Japanese government still insists that it will not review trade remedies even the U.S. return to the trade deal is unlikely to happen. After the U.S. withdrawal, 11 remaining members decided the best way to deal with the concerns was to put the controversial provisions on ice until the U.S. was to return. As a result, the TPP-11 has no changes from the original TPP for any of the current member commitments in areas like market access for agriculture products or trade remedies. But at … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Nov. 19 ― The Japanese government is set to operate new administrative rules for the simultaneous buy and sell (SBS) tending system for imported rice from Australia through the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) without the U.S., also known as TPP-11. The TPP-11 will come into force on Dec. 30 this year as Australia has become the sixth country to ratify the agreement. The auction in the SBS tendering system for Australian rice will have six rounds in a fiscal year starting April 1. The first auction will take place in May, four months earlier than the existing SBS administrative rules. “We fear that the new rules may lead to price … Continue reading →