The prospects of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks are becoming more and more uncertain. The leaders of the TPP member countries issued a statement on Tuesday, October 8, reiterating their pledge to conclude a deal within the year. But they failed to present a basic agreement, revealing remaining deep-rooted conflicts. Meanwhile, the Japanese government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party began discussing revising the items whose tariffs must be retained. Protecting five key agricultural products, as stated in the resolutions adopted by the LDP and agricultural committees of the upper and lower houses of the Diet, is a promise made to the Japanese people, and breaking the promise is a grave breach of trust. The situation could be altered drastically as the negotiations proceed toward the yearend. We definitely cannot allow the government to make hasty political decisions by compromising to demands by the United States.
First of all, we criticize again the overhasty attitude of Koya Nishikawa, chairman of the LDP’s TPP affairs committee, who stated the need to subdivide items, including five key agricultural products, according to tariff rates and closely examine the effects of cutting tariffs. It is natural that agricultural cooperatives and farmers are expressing deep concern over his remarks, because Nishikawa also said that it will be difficult to maintain tariffs on all the key products no matter what. It is unacceptable that senior officials of the government and the LDP are allowing Nishikawa to make such remarks. If it is a part of their tactics to raise the overall trade liberalization rate by making compromises in subdivided items, it is such a makeshift measure and a violation of a campaign pledge and of the resolutions.
We are not making unreasonable demands. We are only asking the government and the LDP to be responsible for what they have promised and keep their promise. That is all we are asking for. If they cannot achieve what they are expected to do, political leaders will lose public trust and people will walk away from them. It is a self-evident truth.
The TPP talks, whose basic intention is to revise all rules in line with the U.S. system and abolish all tariffs, are nothing but an absurd pact. That is why anxieties and concerns are increasing among local areas dependent on farming, and why people engaged in medical services, as well as consumers and small firms in such sectors as construction, are worried whether food safety and people’s lives will be protected. The resolutions adopted by the LDP and the committees of the Diet include steps which require drastic revision of the TPP pact. The government must cut off its retreat and make the resolutions come true. If that is not possible, it is natural for the government to consider withdrawing from the negotiations.
Since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration has won a majority in both the upper and lower houses of the Diet, the groundwork is laid for Abe to present a strong negotiating power. But this does not mean the public gave a free hand to the Abe administration. Rather than protecting national interests which benefit a few exporting companies, the government should place top priority on protecting interests of the Japanese people, especially hard-working farmers and workers.
Prior to the summit meeting of the TPP member countries, Abe stressed the importance of the TPP pact, saying it represents a long-range policy for Japan and local areas. He said Japan will actively contribute to concluding the talks by the end of this year, but the contribution should not be made in the form of compromises concerning the five key agricultural products, which Japan feared the most before joining the negotiations.
In a national protest rally against the TPP talks which was held on Wednesday, October 2, Shigeru Ishiba, chairman of the LDP’s policy affairs research council, declared that the party will definitely protect the five key agricultural products and the national health insurance system. Some participants of the rally expressed distrust towards the Abe administration, saying that the government is always trying to read the minds of the U.S. and global enterprises. If we allow this situation to persist, what Abe called the long-range policy could become a long-range negative legacy. The government and the ruling LDP must fight hard to meet the promise they made to the public.
(Oct. 9, 2013)