Imports of the agricultural, forestry and fishery products which the Liberal Democratic Party wants to protect as the key areas for Japan’s national interests are coming mostly from the TPP participants such as the United States and Australia it was learned from the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry’s data. As for wheat, beef and pork, almost all of the imports are from the TPP member countries. If Asian countries negotiating for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and European Union member countries negotiating for the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) are included, the same is true for imports of other products such as rice. If Japan participates in the TPP negotiations, it is inevitable that it will be pressed to further open up markets in the key areas, including tariff eliminations. It is highly likely that conceding in the TPP negotiations will influence negotiations for other trade pacts.
Market opening pressure unavoidable
The Liberal Democratic Party adopted a resolution demanding the Japanese government prioritize the exclusion of rice, wheat, beef, pork and sugar from tariff exemptions in the TPP discussions.
The graph shows how much of imports of each item are from countries participating in the negotiations for a number of free trade talks, calculated based on data from the Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry.
The percentage of imports from the TPP member countries are: 60% for rice, nearly 100% for wheat, 98% for barley (including rye), 96% for beef (including meat scraps), 72% for pork (including meat scraps), 75% for skim milk powder, 76% for butter, 33% for raw sugar and 7% for starch. If countries participating in the RCEP and EU members are included, the percentage is above 80% for all the items. Specifically, almost 100% for rice, 91% for pork, 94% for skim milk powder, 96% for butter, 94% for raw sugar and 86% for starch.
Countries joining the RCEP negotiations are 10 members of ASEAN, China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India, and among them, 6 countries such as Australia are also members of the TPP. In addition, Japan, China and Korea have begun negotiations for a trilateral free trade agreement.
After Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that Japan will participate in the TPP negotiations, governments and industry groups of TPP member countries expressed hopes for Japan to further open markets for agricultural products. The TPP participants are aiming to reach an agreement as early as by October and conclude the talks by the end of this year, and it is quite possible that the TPP talks settle before other trade talks. Participating in the TPP talks can become a trigger for a domino-like pressure for Japan to liberalize the market for agricultural products.
(April 10, 2013)