Ministers from 12 countries, including Akira Amari (right), hold a meeting under the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade scheme in Hawaii on Tuesday, July 28.
Satomi Tamai – Lahaina, Hawaii
Trade ministers from 12 countries of the Trans-Pacific Partnership initiative kicked off a meeting on Tuesday, July 28 (July 29 Japan time) in Hawaii, aiming at reaching a broad agreement during the four-day session.
Prior to the ministerial meeting, Akira Amari, minister in charge of the TPP talks, negotiated separately with his counterparts from the United States, Australia and New Zealand to bridge differences over thorny issues, including rice and dairy products. After the bilateral negotiations, Amari stressed the need for Japan and the U.S. to settle pending issues before the end of the ministerial meeting in order to strike a deal as a whole.
Ministers agreed that they must tackle the most controversial issues of intellectual property and bilateral negotiations on tariff cuts. They will hold talks bilaterally and bring the results to the ministerial meeting to seek a common ground. “(Working-level negotiators) have made very good progress in terms of narrowing differences and closing out issues, but there are still, of course, tough political issues that remain to be resolved,” U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said, adding “those final decisions are always the most difficult.” “Each of us brings our own priorities and sensitivities to the table, and our goal here over the next couple of days is to find a path forward to resolve those issues,” Froman said.
Amari told reporters after the meeting that he told other ministers the current meeting affects the fate of the talks, asking them to share the determination to make this meeting the last ministerial meeting under the initiative.
Amari and Froman met for an hour and 20 minutes before the ministerial meeting, and they are believed to have discussed remaining issues such as setting import quota for U.S. rice and cutting U.S. tariffs on auto parts. Amari said they failed to reach agreement, adding that they need to discuss a few more times. The two also agreed to lead the debate in the ministerial meeting to solve controversial issues including intellectual property. The two nations will continue working-level talks on Wednesday, July 29, and hold ministerial-level talks if negotiations proceed.
Amari also held meetings with Australian Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb and New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser. Japan is considering setting a low-tariff quota for butter and powdered skim milk from the two countries, but New Zealand appears to have demanded that Japan adopt an unacceptable level of imports. Amari said after the meeting that negotiators will work to settle the talks within the framework of the Diet resolution which calls for protection of key farm products.
(July 30, 2015)