Japan plan to join TPP talks has implications for beef, wheat, dairy, sugar and rice
March 15, 2013 | 02:39 PM
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe formally announced today that Japan will join the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks, and Bloomberg News wrote that Japan is likely to try to protect its rice, sugar and dairy industries while making concessions on beef and wheat.
Shinzo Abe
“The TPP is turning the Pacific Ocean into an inland sea and a huge economic zone,” Abe told reporters, the Japan Times said.
“This is the last chance. If we miss this opportunity, it would immediately mean that we would be left out of setting global regulations” on free trade, he said. “If Japan becomes only inward-looking, there will no longer be a chance of economic growth.”
Shinichi Shogenji, an agricultural science professor at Nagoya University who was chairman of the food security advisory panel for the cabinet in 2007 during Abe’s first term as leader, said that Japan would try to protect only some agricultural sectors, Bloomberg said.
“Japan may be able to protect about 5 percent of its total goods in the TPP talks,” Shogenji told Bloomberg in an interview on March 12. “Rice is the national staple, sugar is vital to Okinawa prefecture and milk is what our kids drink.”
Demetrios Marantis
Acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis said in a news release that the United States welcomes Abe’s announcement.
“Since early last year, the United States has been engaged with Japan in bilateral TPP consultations on issues of concern with respect to the automotive and insurance sectors and other non-tariff measures, and also conducting work regarding meeting TPP’s high standards,” he said.
“While we continue to make progress in these consultations, important work remains to be done,” Marantis continued. “We look forward to continuing these consultations with Japan as the 11 TPP countries consider Japan’s candidacy for this vital initiative in the Asia-Pacific region. We will continue to consult with Congress and stakeholders as we proceed.”
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said in a news release, “I look forward to working with USTR to ensure Japan meets the high-level standards of this agreement in order to guarantee that it works for American workers, businesses, ranchers and farmers. I’m hopeful we can build on the progress we recently made when Japan began accepting more U.S. beef exports.”
Bob Stallman
American Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman noted in a statement that Japan is the fourth-largest U.S. agricultural export market, with nearly $14 billion in purchases in 2012 and improved sanitary and phytosanitary standards would expand U.S. market access in all TPP countries.
“It’s important that new entrants to the TPP recognize this is a comprehensive agreement and that individual sectors should not be excluded from the negotiation,” Stallman said. “The TPP provides an opportunity to strengthen trade relationships, address remaining barriers and improve the competitiveness of the Asia/Pacific market.”
Abe’s government said Japan’s participation would drive up its gross domestic product by 0.66 percent, or around 3.2 trillion yen, but that production in the farm, fishery and forestry sectors could decrease by 3 trillion yen annually if all tariffs are abolished unconditionally, the Japan Times reported.
Asked whether Japan would withdraw if the other 11 TPP countries would not accept some conditions, Abe said, “We will negotiate based on the national interests. Commenting on whether to withdraw (from the TPP) at this point won’t serve that purpose.”
The Japan Times speculated that “Abe’s LDP administration faces an uphill battle with time running out for Japan to negotiate any exemptions — especially in the key areas of rice, sugar and dairy products — with the other 11 TPP member states, making it more difficult for Tokyo to exert much leverage and ensure the minimum damage to the domestic agriculture industry.”
Abe’s LDP Party passed a resolution calling for protection of agriculture, but the Japan Times noted that despite current protections Japan’s rural economy seems to be “dying a slow death.”
As Japan’s society has aged, rice consumption has declined from 12 million tons in 1994 to 8 million tons at present, the Times said.
Kazuhito Yamashita, a former farm ministry official who now serves as research director of the Canon Institute for Global Studies, told the Times that in order to survive Japanese agriculture will need to begin exporting high-quality produce overseas and needs to participate in TPP to do that.
“The TPP is turning the Pacific Ocean into an inland sea and a huge economic zone,” Abe told reporters, the Japan Times said.
“This is the last chance. If we miss this opportunity, it would immediately mean that we would be left out of setting global regulations” on free trade, he said. “If Japan becomes only inward-looking, there will no longer be a chance of economic growth.”
Shinichi Shogenji, an agricultural science professor at Nagoya University who was chairman of the food security advisory panel for the cabinet in 2007 during Abe’s first term as leader, said that Japan would try to protect only some agricultural sectors, Bloomberg said.
“Japan may be able to protect about 5 percent of its total goods in the TPP talks,” Shogenji told Bloomberg in an interview on March 12. “Rice is the national staple, sugar is vital to Okinawa prefecture and milk is what our kids drink.”
Acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis said in a news release that the United States welcomes Abe’s announcement.
“Since early last year, the United States has been engaged with Japan in bilateral TPP consultations on issues of concern with respect to the automotive and insurance sectors and other non-tariff measures, and also conducting work regarding meeting TPP’s high standards,” he said.
“While we continue to make progress in these consultations, important work remains to be done,” Marantis continued. “We look forward to continuing these consultations with Japan as the 11 TPP countries consider Japan’s candidacy for this vital initiative in the Asia-Pacific region. We will continue to consult with Congress and stakeholders as we proceed.”
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said in a news release, “I look forward to working with USTR to ensure Japan meets the high-level standards of this agreement in order to guarantee that it works for American workers, businesses, ranchers and farmers. I’m hopeful we can build on the progress we recently made when Japan began accepting more U.S. beef exports.”
American Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman noted in a statement that Japan is the fourth-largest U.S. agricultural export market, with nearly $14 billion in purchases in 2012 and improved sanitary and phytosanitary standards would expand U.S. market access in all TPP countries.
“It’s important that new entrants to the TPP recognize this is a comprehensive agreement and that individual sectors should not be excluded from the negotiation,” Stallman said. “The TPP provides an opportunity to strengthen trade relationships, address remaining barriers and improve the competitiveness of the Asia/Pacific market.”
Abe’s government said Japan’s participation would drive up its gross domestic product by 0.66 percent, or around 3.2 trillion yen, but that production in the farm, fishery and forestry sectors could decrease by 3 trillion yen annually if all tariffs are abolished unconditionally, the Japan Times reported.
Asked whether Japan would withdraw if the other 11 TPP countries would not accept some conditions, Abe said, “We will negotiate based on the national interests. Commenting on whether to withdraw (from the TPP) at this point won’t serve that purpose.”
The Japan Times speculated that “Abe’s LDP administration faces an uphill battle with time running out for Japan to negotiate any exemptions — especially in the key areas of rice, sugar and dairy products — with the other 11 TPP member states, making it more difficult for Tokyo to exert much leverage and ensure the minimum damage to the domestic agriculture industry.”
Abe’s LDP Party passed a resolution calling for protection of agriculture, but the Japan Times noted that despite current protections Japan’s rural economy seems to be “dying a slow death.”
As Japan’s society has aged, rice consumption has declined from 12 million tons in 1994 to 8 million tons at present, the Times said.
Kazuhito Yamashita, a former farm ministry official who now serves as research director of the Canon Institute for Global Studies, told the Times that in order to survive Japanese agriculture will need to begin exporting high-quality produce overseas and needs to participate in TPP to do that.
