Satomi Tamai – Singapore
Ministers from the 12 countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks, who wrapped up a four-day meeting in Singapore on It’s Tuesday, December 10, seemed to lack a sense of urgency in meeting their end-of-year goal for an accord, despite expectations which grew prior to the meeting.
But they said in a joint statement that they have made “substantial progress” towards completing the agreement and will continue “intensive work” toward sealing the pact, adding that they will meet again next month.
In a press conference held after the meeting, United States Trade Representative Michael Froman called the meeting “tremendously successful and productive,” saying that they managed to make a step closer to the goal of reaching an ambitious, comprehensive and high-standard agreement. By saying so, he parried questions by the press who asked the reasons for not being able to reach basic agreement as was originally scheduled.
In the summit meeting held in October, the TPP member countries confirmed the goal of striking a deal by the year end. But Froman’s remarks sounded like such target had never existed, sidestepping reporters’ questions.
It is questionable whether the ministers attended the meeting with a strong determination to come to agreement. As reporters awaited, the ministers walked into the meeting room with a smile, except for Yasutoshi Nishimura, senior vice minister of the Cabinet Office, who maintained a sulky look as Japan negotiated fiercely with U.S. counterparts concerning issues such as auto trade and Japanese tariffs on farm products.
On Monday, December 9, a day before the close of the ministerial meeting, instead of making all-night, last-minute efforts to narrow their differences, the ministers ended the talks at 9 p.m., leaving the discussions to negotiators. The meeting was closed as early as 3 p.m. on the following day, as some ministers had to leave at night that day, according to Nishimura.
Such carefree atmosphere clearly contrasted with the ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization which was held in Bali, Indonesia, immediately prior to the TPP ministerial meeting. The WTO members aimed to reach agreement on part of the areas discussed under the Doha round of negotiations, and extended the meeting as they could not resolve their differences. On Friday, December 6, the last day of the meeting, ministers held informal meetings again and again, engaging in round-the-clock consultations to finally compile a package of agreement on a selection of issues. Such last-ditch efforts even made WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo break into tears at the closing ceremony of the meeting.
As a matter of fact, many have voiced concern over the difficulties of the TPP members reaching agreement before the end of this year. TPP ministers could not even set a new target for completing the talks. Some countries such as Malaysia are clearly pessimistic about striking a deal soon, but New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser said at Tuesday’s press conference that momentum is accelerating.
Like the U.S., New Zealand is demanding that Japan liberalize its markets on an extremely high level, including abolishing tariffs on sensitive agricultural products. Groser’s remarks apparently indicate New Zealand’s intention to press other members to continue the negotiations. Or maybe he truly believes the momentum is there.
The next ministerial meeting is coming as early as in January. There is no doubt Japan will face hard times again.
(Dec. 12, 2013)