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All goods 'subject to negotiation' for Japan to join Asia-Pacific trade talks
Japan must put all goods on the table to join the multilateral negotiations of an Asia-Pacific trade deal.
President Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe released a joint statement after a White House meeting on Friday that "all goods would be subject to negotiation" should Japan want to participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks and achieve a "comprehensive, high-standard agreement."
Before his first trip to the United States since his election in December, Abe indicated that he hoped to get some goods exempted to protect the Japanese economy, and expressed optimism that U.S. officials would consider them.
There have been broad expectations in the Japanese press that Abe would return to Japan and announce that the Pacific-Rim nation had gotten a seat at the negotiating table.
Instead, Friday's statement said the United States and Japan would continue their talks "with respect to Japan’s possible interest in joining the TPP."
Between Obama administration officials and business leaders, it appeared clear on the eve of the meeting between the two leaders that Japan's entry into the 11-nation talks was unlikely — at least, for now.
"Recognizing that both countries have bilateral trade sensitivities, such as certain agricultural products for Japan and certain manufactured products for the United States, the two governments confirm that, as the final outcome will be determined during the negotiations, it is not required to make a prior commitment to unilaterally eliminate all tariffs upon joining the TPP negotiations," the statement said.
The announcement brought a sharp response from House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Sandy Levin (D-Mich.), who said that neither he nor Congress would support a deal that doesn't lead to the opening up of Japan's markets to foreign competition.
"As Japan explores whether to seek to join the TPP negotiations, there must be a clear, concrete understanding that before Japan would join the TPP negotiations that those negotiations would result in a real change in Japan’s policies and practices," Levin said in a statement.
"It is worrisome that the joint statement might obscure the fact that those ‘sensitivities’ are both on Japan’s side," he said.
"For generations, Japan has kept these markets closed, thwarting our efforts in agreement after agreement to change the situation for American exports. We have worked with every previous Administration — over decades — to try to open the markets that Japan has fastidiously kept closed. These efforts, unfortunately, have not been successful."
Business leaders, especially U.S. automakers, have expressed opposition to letting Japan join the talks until Tokyo agrees to open its economy to U.S. exports.
“We would be reluctant to scale back standards to bring Japan in,” John Engler, president of the Business Roundtable, told reporters on Thursday.
The TPP talks involve Malaysia, Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, Canada and Mexico, but Japan has long been eyed as a possible partner.
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