Japan and Australia are unlikely to conclude the ongoing negotiations for an economic partnership agreement before September, sources said Monday, June 24.
The two governments have been negotiating to strike a basic deal as early as this month, the remaining issue being whether Japan will agree to imposing lower tariffs for a certain amount of imports of sensitive agricultural products such as beef from Australia in exchange for phased reduction of Australia’s tariffs on Japanese car imports.
The governments, however, have decided to put off the discussion until fall, as the Upper House election in Japan is scheduled in July and Australia’s federal election is planned in September, and they wanted to avoid making concessions and compromises before the elections, the sources said.
No official round of negotiations has been held between the two countries since June last year, but under-the-table bilateral discussions proceeded after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his intention to join in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks on Friday, March 15, they said.
Australia became eager to reach agreement at this timing apparently because of pressure from beef producers to achieve a substantial progress in facilitating Australian beef exports to Japan before Japan formally enters the TPP negotiations, as competition between Australian beef and American beef has been intensifying after Japan eased restrictions on U.S. beef imports in February to allow meat from cattle up to 30 months old, a change from a 20-months limit in place since 2006. Meanwhile, Japan was negotiating for an EPA with Australia with the aim of gaining a foothold to protect key agricultural products in the TPP negotiations.
Sources say the two governments may have difficulty resuming the talks immediately after the election in Australia, as there is a growing possibility of the opposition coalition taking power, with many predicting that Australia’s ruling Labor Party will have a hard time winning the elections.
The TPP negotiations are also likely to affect the prospects of negotiations on the EPA with Australia, as the TPP participants hope to reach agreement in October, and Japan is expected to join in the talks in late July.
(June 25, 2013)