Stakeholders of the Japanese forest industry including local wood manufacturers are growing their concerns about negotiations between Japan and the European Union (EU) on their Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
Japan has been importing lots of lumber and laminated wood products from member countries of EU.
If the Japanese government agrees on elimination of import tariffs on the wood products as did for the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact, an increase in imports of EU’s wood products will place a heavy stress on domestic related industries by reducing demands for local products.
Negotiators of the Japanese government will supposedly make a concession to their counterparts of EU on trade liberalization at an almost similar level agreed in the TPP free trade negotiations.
A majority of lumber products imported from EU countries, however, are laminated wood products, while Japan purchases plywood products from countries that joined the TPP negotiations.
Import items in Japan’s wood trade with EU members are basically different from those with TPP member countries.
A key member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party supporting interests of agricultural and forest industries in Japan warned the negotiators by saying, “If figures applied to tariff cuttings in the TPP negotiations are put into talks with EU negotiators, it could deliver a serious blow to our wood industry.”
A self-sufficiency ratio of wood in Japan has been gradually rising to a level of 33 percent in 2015 because consumption of wood produced in Japan has been considerably boosted in recent years, after hitting the bottom of 19 percent in 2002.