Japan’s House of Councilors ratified the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade pact and approved its related legislation on December 9, after the Upper House’s TPP Special Committee approved the TPP trade deal and related bills on the same day, where the ruling camp supported the TPP agreement to overcome resistance from the opposition parties.
Meanwhile the TPP pact has considerably dim prospects of taking effect, since the United States President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly said he will withdraw his government from the pact.
On the other hand, there still remain concerns that U.S. government will force TPP member countries to reopen the negotiations, or talks on Japan-U.S. free trade agreement will take place in a near future.
It is also concerned that the existing TPP pact on high-level trade liberalization, including agricultural commodities, will function as a starting point of the Japanese government’s future trade negotiations.
At the December 9 session of the Upper House, the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, Nippon Ishin no Kai, and a small opposition party supported the TPP ratification and related bills, while the opposition parties such as the Democratic Party, the Japanese Communist Party, the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party voted against the TPP.
Among 12 participating countries in the TPP trade negotiations, Japan is the second country that ratified the agreement following New Zealand.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump already stated U.S. would quit the TPP deal on his first day in the White House. He reportedly plans to seek for bilateral trade negotiations with U.S. partners.
Shinzo Abe’s administration will urge the U.S. new president to change his decision. It is inevitable, however, that his government will be forced to review the current trade policy.